Jumping the Broom
by Sykira
Summary: I'm getting people coming over to find the next 10 chs of this on LJ, which I am so honored by, thank you! Msg me to access. Find me as sykira on livejournal but do heed warnings:the rest of this WIP explores darker non-pc themes. Huge thanks for the lovely reviews, I respond to every one even if they don't show up on the site. I'm posting 2 more pg-13 chs here for those following
1. Chapter 1

The Doctor and Donna reached the clearing just as the sun was cresting the mountain ridges.

She stopped suddenly, looking back at the forest behind them, her shoulders slumping.

"It's all right," the Doctor said gently. When she didn't move he closed his fingers around her arm and turned her slowly to face him. "She'll be okay, Donna, she's behind the perception filter, and her engines are effectively in stasis."

Donna squinted in the sunlight as she turned her face up to meet his. "But you said she'll die without the crystal whatsits!"

"And that's why she brought us here, with the last of her strength. Before her computers went offline the scans showed a rich supply just over this hill, we'll find what she needs and be back in no time to fix her."

Donna took a deep breath, considering his words. He sounded calm but his eyes were troubled. She knew his ship was very important to him. Reaching for his hand she squeezed his fingers and nodded. "Yes, we will."

He managed a soft smile and they set off again, trudging through dusty dry brush. The day was growing warmer as the sun rose higher in the sky but it was still far from hot, nonetheless, Donna was getting more and more out of breath. It was almost like when she had first started traveling with him, she mused, when she wasn't used to all the running. But that was ages ago and by now she could keep up with him for much longer. She shouldn't be having this much trouble just quietly walking through mostly flat ground.

Evidently the Doctor felt the same way for he soon stopped her in her tracks and held her shoulder as he scanned her with his screwdriver. She endured his examination without the usual protest, too busy trying to catch her breath, her heart racing.

His lips thinned into a line.

"What?" she panted. "Are we at a high elevation or something?"

"Or something. Have you ever heard of radon?"

"Is that radioactive?" she asked, alarmed.

"It's a form of radiation, it's common on Earth, took your lot until the 23rd century to move people out of areas of high concentration. It seeps up from the ground, gets in your lungs when you breathe—"

"Dangerous?" Donna demanded.

"Somewhat, over time. The levels here are higher than Earth, but not life-threatening or anything. Still, best not settle down and build ourselves a house here anytime soon."

"Wasn't planning on settling down planetside anywhere anytime ever!"

He flashed her a grin. "Still won't let me make an honest woman of you, Miss Noble?"

She snorted and opened her mouth to continue the ritual banter when suddenly the smile fell from his face and he grabbed her and spun her around, putting her behind him and reaching back for her hand.

She entwined her fingers with his and peered around his shoulder, soothing the tension in his frame by absently stroking her hand on his back as together they regarded a man walking toward them.

"Aren't supposed to be any people, not where we landed," the Doctor muttered tersely.

Tall and broadly built, the man was humanoid in appearance, in a hulking…Donna paused, trying to remember American history (most of which she had learned watching Quantum Leap so if it was before Al's time, it was outside her scope of knowledge) but what was that guy, huge, walked the continent felling trees? John Bunyan! Yeah, this guy was hulking in an earthy John Bunyan kind of way. He was talking, some kind of effervescent babbling and droning that seemed to take the TARDIS longer than usual to translate. He was almost upon them before his syllables, and the Doctor's answering sounds, coalesced into recognizable patterns for Donna.

"…And I'm John Noble. Doctor John Noble. So pleased to make your acquaintance! Donna, this is Mobet, from the tribe of Tih."

Doctor _Noble?_ Was that a translation error? Donna stepped around from behind the Doctor, feeling his grip tighten on her hand as he kept her at his side.

When the man who was not John Bunyan, but apparently some bloke called Mobet, turned to Donna and addressed her, she deciphered his still-indistinct speech sounds as some kind of greeting and responded in kind, sticking out her free hand.

"Hi, I'm Donna."

"Mobet of the Tih, yous honor with us your presence visitors rare."

She blinked. The man took her hand in both of his, and immediately the Doctor casually slung an arm about her shoulders. Donna turned to look at him, her eyebrows raised. Words of protest died on her lips as his hand wrapped firmly around her shoulder and he drew her body close to his own.

The Doctor's body language was not lost on the Tih, who hastily dropped Donna's hand and straightened his long frame. Now his words were clearer and he spoke directly to the Doctor.

"Indeed. Weary, my friends? The night draws on, and you two look as if you have traveled a long ways, I know there are no settlements but ours around here for many epons. Let me show you to a place you can rest. Will you be staying long?" He spoke slowly, easily, with almost a drawl and the characteristic lack of self-consciousness of rural people, but there was a gleam in his easy as he turned to Donna again that made her shift uneasily under the Doctor's arm.

"Oh not long, wouldn't want to put you out," the Doctor replied cheerfully.

"Nonsense, sir, it's just over the hill." He pointed in exactly the direction the Doctor himself had indicated when talking about the location of the crystals earlier. Donna looked at the Time Lord and they shared a significant eyebrow raising.

"So you will come? You would be honoring us with your presence, my friend."

The Doctor smiled and nodded at the man. "We'd be delighted."

Mobet turned on his heel and led them briskly over the crest of the hill and down to a valley of what could loosely be described as adobe dwellings scattered haphazardly around a kind of village square. There was an impressive building in the center, not entirely unlike some kind of Mayan edifice, flanked by some similar but smaller structures in a ring around the main building.

Their guide's long legs covered distances much quicker than Donna's and she struggled to keep up. Concerned, the Doctor asked her several times if she wanted to slow down, but she shook her head. She wanted to get these crystals the TARDIS needed and get out of here, something felt strange about this place, its arid landscape unwelcoming.

Mobet came to a halt on the perimeter of a low rock wall, separating the village off from a mud hut under a canopy of trees.

"This is as far as I can bring an outsider, but please, feel free to make yourself comfortable in the outpost until I can find the chief. He will be back from his hunt soon, he will want to meet you, I will see you again with provisions when the sun crests the tall trees."

He indicated the mud hut, bowed once again and scaled the low wall easily. His long strides carried him away from them rapidly but he glanced back at them over his shoulder a few times. Once she had caught her breath, Donna ducked inside the dwelling then reappeared, checking to make sure the Tih was really gone. She looked at the Doctor, who was feigning interest in the hut's construction.

"_Doctor John Noble?"_ she hissed. "Did you tell him we are married?"

"Actually no - at least not technically."

She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

"I told him we were together though. The TARDIS was having some trouble with generating translation at first, which is not a good sign, I have everything else just about powered down, she should have enough to translate..." He trailed off, sadly.

Donna could see worry for his ship pass across his features. She reached for his arm and gave it a squeeze.

He looked up again and gave her a smile that was only slightly forced.

"Together-together?" she inquired, hoping to take his mind off worrying about the TARDIS.

"It's not for long, Donna, just until we figure out who sent that distress signal, or if it really was a distress call at all, could have been some intergalactic smoke signal that got puffed the wrong way. Hard to see much cause for distress in this pastoral idyll? Hmm?"

"Distress signal? I thought we were here for the crystals?"

"Well, these things have a way of dovetailing together, we need them, they need help, or more likely just a confusion. I thought when the TARDIS showed me the readings that was just her way of asking for the crystals."

"Hmm." Donna wasn't convinced there was any possibility of the distress call being a simple mistake and she didn't think he was either. "I don't understand. Why can't we just be the Doctor and Donna? Maybe then they wouldn't have put us in a mud hut with only one bed." She glared at him, folding her arms across her chest.

"He said he'll be back long before nightfall," he offered. He shrugged lightly, still scanning the settlement as if scoping out their surroundings…or possibly to avoid meeting her gaze.

Donna could see she obviously wasn't getting much out of him this way.

"Right then, I'll just go tell them they made a mistake, say you are my brother or something, I dunno. Get my own mud hut!"

She made as if to stomp into the village then suddenly the Doctor's hand was at her elbow and when she didn't stop immediately he whirled around in front of her, blocking the path.

"You don't want to do that Donna. I'm just protecting you. Here. Come inside."

He slipped his hand down her arm to take her hand, drawing her inside the little hut. She resisted at first, on principle. He knew she didn't like it when he pulled her around after him. But then he looked back at her and she saw concern in his eyes again—this time his worry was for her. So she went with him, with one last glance back to the village and the path Mobet had taken.

The dwelling was dimly lit with only the pale sunlight filtering through the narrow doorway and one small window. It had a high domed roof that had trapped most of the heat of the afternoon. Dust motes puffed in the air when they sat together on the tall wooden bed. Everything was tall here, the Doctor fitted right in but Donna had never felt so diminutive. She drew her legs up underneath her as they sat on the bed.

"Mobet was propositioning you."

"He was shaking my hand!" Her voice was incredulous.

"Donna, I saw the planet profile before we landed and from what I could read before the screen went on the fritz with the power drain, I have an idea of the kind of culture here. I just didn't see that this particular area was populated. That was probably on page two."

Donna folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"And I have seen these uxorilocal societies before," he went on, ignoring her glare, "when the men are nomadic they need a female to provide them with property, they cannot own their own land until they marry. Put that together with a shortage of females and it's a dangerous combination for an unmarried girl."

"Sounds like this maybe has something to do with why we are here. So – did you know this yuxioryocal whateveritis before we landed?"

"Bits and pieces. The records are sparse from this time period and like I said, the computers went down."

At the flicker of sadness in his eyes, Donna's heart softened slightly. This wasn't his fault, after all, he was worried about the TARDIS and he was only trying to protect her. But his almost…possessive manner—no, that couldn't be right, it was only her after all—his _bossy_ manner grated on her, going against everything she believed about women's rights. He was too used to young girls or women from earlier generations from what she could remember about what he had said about Sarah Jane and others. He was still talking, Donna forced her thoughts back to what he was saying.

"The Tih civilization doesn't make it out of this population crisis for many generations, but no one knows why. To be honest, I would have left you safe in the TARDIS if I'd known there was a settlement here. I still might."

Here we go again! "Well, I might just have something to say abou—" she started to bristle and he held up a hand to forestall her objections, his other hand falling on hers.

"We'll go to dinner there, you need some rest and hydration anyway. We'll see what we can suss out. But Donna, I don't know how far gone this settlement is – simply being married may not be enough protection anymore, Mobet was pretty aggressive." His hold tightened on her hand.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I don't understand, he was only-"

"He was going to kiss your hand Donna and such a public demonstration of physicality symbolizes a lot in these societies. I want you to stay very close to me while we are here okay? No wondering off, no independent investigating, do you understand?"

Donna made a dismissive hrrumph noise and slid off the bed. "Bossy git," she muttered. Behind her she could hear the Doctor let out a breath before he too left the bed and followed his companion out the door.


	2. Chapter 2

The wizened branches of the trees did little to filter the strong sunlight outside the hut but a breeze kept the heat at bay. If it was this temperate in the late morning, the Doctor suspected the nights here could get chilly indeed. He licked a finger and held it up to the occasional gusts of wind, peering at Donna out of the corner of his eye and hoping she would ask him what he was doing. Her hair caught the sunlight as she tossed her head and began pacing again. The Doctor tried to think of something other than how beautifully the sun glinted off her red waves. She had been too quiet. He scratched his neck and peeked at her again. She was English—they loved to talk about the weather, right?

"I can't tell if it's autumn or spring here, what do you think?"

Donna continued pacing up and down, kicking up furious little clouds of dust and avoiding his gaze. She spread her hands in an "I don't know" gesture and the Doctor opened his mouth to offer some more meteorological speculation but was interrupted by the sound of Mobet's return.

He wasn't alone this time. An even taller man strode out ahead of a small group of tribal men, their clothing rough-hewn and their hair unkempt. The Doctor moved closer to Donna and placed his hand on her shoulder. She brushed it off almost immediately causing him to sigh internally. She was clearly rattled by this situation and he wished she could just accept his comfort—and protection—it put him on edge around these unknown men but he knew better than to insist she stay by his side when she took a few steps away from him.

He knew enough of women from her time to know they had been raised to resist men taking the lead in a way his first human companions—from a generation earlier on Earth—had no problem accepting. He still had to catch himself sometimes, especially when it seemed like she really wanted to receive his protective touch and attentions, but her upbringing made her retrench to reacting against it. Things had got even more complicated when he realized his desire to always near her—or touching her—stemmed from more than his usual proprietary instinct when it came to his companions. So _much_ more complicated that he had begun to second guess himself and his own motivations.

The tribesmen came to a halt in a loose semi-circle around them, at first staring with open curiosity at the Doctor and then gazing fixedly at Donna.

"Hello! I'm the Doctor," he offered brightly, letting none of the tension he felt leak into his voice. The tallest man who had led the group dragged his eyes away from Donna to address him in return, first bowing at the waist although not at low as Mobet had done upon greeting them for the first time.

"Chief Archui. This is my village."

He seemed to be waiting for something so the Doctor bowed in return, seeing Donna following his lead.

"My friend and I are travelers. We have come from afar and would like to bother you for some water, if it isn't too much trouble." He gestured toward Mobet who was carrying the provisions he had promised earlier but seemed to have forgotten about now he was so busy ogling the Doctor's companion again.

"Oh!" Mobet stepped forward eagerly but then his face fell when the chief lifted the leather water pouches and fruit from his hands and made a show of presenting it to Donna with another bow. "It is my pleasure to greet you on behalf of the Tih, beautiful lady."

She arched an eyebrow. "It's Donna," she responded carefully.

"Donna." He rolled the word around in his mouth. "I am honored to provide for such a beauty, as it is the custom of our people to always take care of our womenfolk, they are our treasures. I am sorry you have been made to walk such a way, my dear. Where did you come from to have found us? The nearest settlement is more than one day's walking, even if your gentleman friend did set a punishing pace." He flicked his eyes to the Doctor with a glimmer of censure in them, then bowed as he held out the provisions again.

Before Donna could accept the water the Doctor cleared his throat and stepped between her and Archui. clucking his tongue—a soft noise of disapproval and warning. "It is the custom of _our_ people that any offering to a lady must first be checked by her protector." He grinned with a cheeriness he didn't feel even as he took the provisions.

The chief retreated a step, inclining his head.

"But we thank you," Donna chimed in. The Doctor turned away slightly as he opened the water pouch, giving it a quick antimicrobial zap with the sonic when he was sure the men's eyes were on Donna. He took a sip himself, running it over his tongue before handing it to her with a quick nod. She had moved closer to him, he noticed.

"You are most welcome, my dear. Perhaps you would also accept a soft bed for the night? We have chambers in the manse house of our citadel if you are of the elevated caste?"

"Elevated caste?" Donna's hand froze halfway through bringing the water to her mouth.

"If you have attained a husband," Archui explained, looking meaningfully from the Doctor to Donna.

"Not married," Donna stated. The Doctor sighed internally. He sensed a ripple among the tribesmen and couldn't resist slipping an arm around Donna's shoulders. She narrowed her eyes but didn't shake him off.

He cleared his throat, trying to get the men to look at him instead of Donna. "Nonetheless, we are most grateful for your hospitality, Chief Archui. Are there lesser accommodations?"

Archui folded his hands and regarded the pair. "Betrothed?"

The Doctor's hand tightened around Donna's shoulder and cut her off as she opened her mouth to reply.

"Would that allow us to be in chambers together?"

"We could put you, sir, in a outer house, with the lower status bachelors. The accommodations are quite adequate."

The Doctor could feel Donna tense beside him. They both knew they needed access to the main building if they were to find a way into the mine.

Donna shifted under his hold. "You think people have to be married to be special enough to come into your house?"

The Doctor gulped. He was proud of her strength but at the same time, worried her assertiveness would not go over well.

"It is decreed, Miss Donna. The natural order of things."

Donna cleared her throat, barely disguising a muttered "rubbish!" behind a cough. Now she did shake off the Doctor's arm, causing another ripple of unrest among their onlookers.

Archui continued undaunted. "All our young men long for a wife to bring them to their rightful place. You may be married this very day, if you so wish, to your betrothed?"

She folded her arms defiantly. "Someone isn't lesser or some lower caste or other nonsense just because she hasn't got hitched yet."

"Donna." The Doctor's warning was quiet but she heeded it, pressing her lips together. He could sense that the way these men were blatantly leering at was putting her on edge.

Archui lowered his voice, tilting his head with interest as he regarded her. "We would never press a lady into a circumstance not of her choosing. As I said, there are many strong and healthy providers in my village. A lady as becoming as you may have your pick, even among the leaders of our settlement."

The Doctor stilled, a chill making its way up his spine; it hadn't taken Archui long to extend an offer. Donna only half-stifled a most unladylike snort.

The village chief's lips twitched. He had a good two feet in height on Donna when he drew himself up as he did now, peering down his nose at her. The Doctor was equal parts proud and nervous when Donna didn't so much as flinch. But then the hair rose on the back of his neck when he saw the look in the chief's eyes as they swept over the Doctor's companion. Archui was taking her defiance as a challenge; a challenge that ignited his interest even further.

"If you refuse your companion and yet want to be here in our society you must live as we do. No woman of age can live alone outside her father's house. You, Miss, may stay in the unmarried girl house if you wish."

The Doctor stepped closer to her as the chief repeated his edict. "No." The Time Lord was clear on that point. Archui looked to him and nodded.

"Very well then, that leaves two alternatives: you may be married and be domiciled together, or you must leave."

The Doctor fidgeted and looked at Donna.

"I'll just stay with the other women, then," she said with a shrug.

"No longer an option, Miss."

"But you said there was an unmarried girl house…"

"Your gentleman has indicated that that would not be acceptable to him."

"You what?"

The Doctor instantly picked up on the telltale signs that Donna was about to blow up at the village chief. Or possibly sock him in the jaw, if the way her hand was curling into a fist was any indication. Not that the Doctor could blame her—if these settlers kept making eyes at her this way the Doctor might just take a swing himself. That thought surprised him, he didn't often have such base violent instincts but when it came to Donna's safety sometimes he just saw red.

He reached for her and placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it off, causing a collective gasp among Archui's men. The chief cleared his throat.

"You are his ward—"

Donna scoffed at that. "I'm no such thing! What, do I look like some orphan from Jane Eyre?"

Unfazed, the chief went on as if she had not spoken. "You are within the Doctor's custody and under his protection, it is his decision where you should live."

"Listen, mate—"

The Doctor stepped between them then, sensing the dangerousness in Donna's tone. He pulled her aside, hoping she didn't notice the muted chuckles from Archui and the other Tih as he led her away. She went with him only after frowning soundly at the village chief and shook off his arm when they were a good distance away.

"I don't need YOU going all patriarchal on me too!"

He flinched and must have looked wounded because Donna relented, her tone becoming softer. "Just go back and tell him I can stay with the other women."

"I can't let you go into the 'girl house' Donna, you would be considered fair game for any unmarried, or undermarried, male in the village. You are much safer with me."

Her frown deepened. "I don't even want to know what undermarried means, do I?"

"Er…"

"But they said they don't force anyone…"

"Not strictly speaking no, but these men have different ideas about how to treat a woman, Donna, you would have to be very assertive and firm—"

She opened her mouth to interrupt him but he held up a hand and continued speaking. "—I know what you are going to say, and I have no doubt that you could be very firm, I just don't want you subjected to men's aggressive advances at every turn. Please, Donna."

She swallowed and looked away for a moment. He watched as she met the gaze of the chief, who inclined his head and smiled slowly at her. Donna shivered. She quickly contained it but the Doctor picked up on it nonetheless. He moved to block the chief's view of her.

"They are respecting your position as my…" _property,_ he didn't say, "as being under my protection. They won't touch you as long as you are mine, otherwise I wouldn't even consider taking you in there."

Donna fumed quietly and pursed her lips. He could tell she was wavering.

"We also need access to the main building," he reminded her quietly, hoping to bring her mind back to something other than the position she was being forced into.

"Yeah, alright then," she mumbled after a minute. "But he said the alternative to the girl's house was marriage." She looked up at him, a question in her eyes, and trepidation too.

"It's just a local ceremony, Donna, tribal really, there are no broader connections to interstellar authorities from this planet in this time period." Well, probably not, anyway. Best not to tell her that he wasn't entirely sure what planet they were on, at least he was sure of the time period. Wellllll, fairly sure. Within a millennia, give or take. He scuffed his foot in the dust.

She sighed and gulped down some of the water, taking her time studying the primitive leather flask.

"Is it really so awful?" He hadn't meant to sound quite as petulant as it came out.

Her lips quirked. "No…it's just…nothing. It doesn't matter. It's for the TARDIS, right?"

His chest tightened to see how far she would go for the ship they both loved. "So…is that a yes?" The Doctor was surprised to find his mouth had gone dry.

"I 'spose."

He couldn't help the grin that spread across his face for no reason at all so it was probably a good thing Donna was looking anywhere but at him.

When he had schooled his features back into something of a more somber expression, he held out his hand and she took it tentatively. There was a pause before she spoke again. "What does this involve? A wedding?"

The Doctor shielded his eyes from the sun, now directly overhead. "I…don't know." He squeezed her hand until she looked back up at him and gave him a small, uncertain smile.

"Let me find out, okay, Donna?"

She looked back to the chief, who was watching them from his spot under the tree with intense interest.

"Okay."

"Stay here?" He gave her hand a warm squeeze.

She hung back as he walked back to the Tih, a spring in his step.

"What's your decision, Sir?"

"The lady has consented to be my wife, Chief Archui."

Archui seemed to deflate at that news somewhat.

"But we want to know what that means," Donna piped up, nervously. The Doctor sighed. Why did they never stay where they were told? He turned back to her and put his hands on her shoulders.

"I think Chief Archui would be more comfortable discussing that just with me, Donna."

She frowned but he held up a hand to forestall her objections. She batted it away, generating a few snickers from their audience, but she held her tongue. His voice lowered and he waited until he had her full attention. "That way we'll get a more thorough understanding of everything that would be expected of you as part of a wedding, do you understand?"

Her eyes widened slightly and she looked away. "Yes, I'll just be inside," she moved out of his reach and headed toward the adobe hut, muttering something about "playing house like a good little wifey" in an undertone. The Doctor stared after her, wondering just how big a slap he was going to get for all this when she got him alone.

Donna was gazing out the tiny window when the Doctor came back inside. She pulled at her collar. "It's hot in here," she complained when the Doctor didn't say anything.

He took her hand and was glad when she wrapped her fingers around his.

"Archui has gone, let's walk a little, okay?"

"They went home?"

"Yep. He gave me directions to the main gate, where we'll be greeted formally as a betrothed couple."

She gave him a funny look but didn't object as he led her outside. They walked slowly in silence, following a small stream that ran parallel to the village wall for a while. The breeze lifted her hair from her shoulders as they walked.

"Doctor?" She piped up after a while.

"Do you need a rest?" He was mindful to keep their pace slow as the radon made her easily run out of breath.

She shook her head. "Are you upset with me?" Her chin raised in defiance that was belied only by the slight tremulous wobble in her voice.

He frowned and stopped walking. "No, of course not. I know those men made you uncomfortable, Donna, and rightfully so…I know that this isn't going to be easy for you." He turned to face her and lifted her hand in his.

She chewed on her lip for a moment and he mused on how much less sure of herself she seemed now they were alone. "It's just, Doctor, I don't mean to get all..mouthy, I….I dunno, they rubbed me the wrong way."

He looked down at her and his hearts lurched to see a vulnerability in her eyes that was gone almost before he could register it. She shook her hair back and with his free hand he smoothed some of her windswept locks back from her face.

"Donna, I need you to do something for me, okay?"

She looked dubious.

"I need you to trust me and let me protect you. I have more experience with these kind of societies."

"I don't need you protectin' me, Doctor, you just worry about getting the TARDIS those crystals."

"I can't do that—I can't do anything if I am worrying for your safety," he replied quietly but with such intensity Donna caught her breath.

She held his gaze before nodding eventually and uttering a soft "Alright then." After another moment she started walking again, keeping ahold of his hand. "So what do we do now?"

"It's fairly simple really," the Doctor began and scratched at the back of his neck. "Just some words, a bit of ceremonial garb, we drink some kind of wine – that I would course check out with the sonic first, make sure it's safe. Then I walk you," (the chief had said 'parade' but the Doctor has a sense that word wouldn't go down well with Donna) "…around the town square, arm in arm, bit of dancing and some blessings in the town square, then they allow us to stay together in their guest quarters."

She looked at him skeptically. "Where we perform dubious things in the marital bed while a bunch of horny tribesmen look on?"

His eyebrows shot up and he almost tripped over his own feet. "No! No no! No, Donna, nothing like that, I promise." No wonder she was so defensive and on edge if these were the kinds of thoughts going around in her head. The Doctor could kick himself for not dispelling her fears before now.

"You're certain?" She still sounded cynical and he couldn't really blame her. He folded her hand within both of his and stopped in front of her again so he could look in her eyes. Then he breathed out, willing his hearts to stop racing.

"Certain. I asked about the consummation, it's completely private, no one will know when we don't, um, you know. We'll be secluded, and even if we did get spied on or whatever there is no rule about consummating, not for a year, I checked." The Doctor was momentarily grateful to all the absurd predicaments he had ended up in over the years that had at least taught him the pertinent questions to ask.

"A year?"

"A year, or longer if the bride is underage at the time of the ceremony."

Predictably, Donna frowned at that. "And what's underage here?"

"Well, they have different lifespans, a bride could be married for practical reasons, like if her father died, but not expected to do anything…like you said, in the marital bed, until she was mid-thirties."

Her eyebrows rose even higher as the Doctor continued, "which is the equivalent of about, oh, 17 I'd say."

"How does…?"

Their planet spins faster around the sun so their days are shorter, almost half the length of an Earth day."

"How do you know all that? Wait…are you trying to tell me you brought me somewhere where I'm an old age pensioner?!"

He grinned cheekily at her, happy when she whapped him on the arm. Then he pointed at the sun. "We've been here less than three hours but we've already gone from sunrise to midday, almost. I can feel it too." He tromped his feet on the ground a few times.

Donna raised a curious eyebrow. "You can feel the planet spinning?"

"Not really the point right now. They don't marry off children is all I'm saying."

The Doctor shifted from one foot to another. Donna was silent as she processed his words. He gently took both her hands and brought them to his chest, wanting to reassure her. She was one of the most empathetic humans he had ever known and he understood her compassion; he loved that about her.

"I don't get the impression the women here are pressed into anything they don't want, Donna. What we have seen of the language they use, and the customs here, reflect male dominance, but not anything of force or cruelty."

"So far."

He inclined his head in acknowledgement.

"But, Doctor, how are we supposed to be investigating alien mysteries if we are so busy tying the knot?"

He didn't miss her subject change and suspected they had not fully assuaged her concerns yet. He released her hands, gratified that she stayed close to him.

"It's takes an hour, Donna, maybe two, and then we'll be inside, free to live among them. And, more to the point," he scratched his head, "the guest quarters are apparently in the main building…"

She scuffed her feet on the pebbles, kicking some into the stream. "So?"

"…which is right over the mine we need to access."

"Oh." She looked up and bit her the inside of her cheek. The Doctor tilted his head in a question. "To help the TARDIS," he added hopefully. "It could be over with before sundown if we go now?"

He paused and dropped his hand from ruffling his hair to wrap around the back of his neck. "But if you are uncomfortable, I'll take you back to the TARDIS, I can come back on my own."

"No. I'm your…well, you need me, Spaceman, you get in trouble on your own!"

He smiled. "Yeah."

"Every time! No, it's fine, whatever." She shrugged. "Is there a church and a vicar and everything?"

"There's no church, no reverend, no rings, no legal papers. There isn't even so much as a "you may now kiss the bride'," he offered, hoping again to calm her fears.

"There's not? No kiss?"

"Not even a peck."

"Oh."

Was there disappointment at that news? He couldn't be sure, and he couldn't resist pressing a little further.

"Course, nothing to say I can't kiss the bride in the privacy of our own palatial honeymoon suite!"

She glanced at him sharply and narrowed her eyes. "Somehow I don't think stuffy, dusty, mud hut quite qualifies as a honeymoon suite. And it's probably not much better in that town hall or whatever it is." Then she paused and looked him up and down, a glint in her eye telling him she wanted her own back for that split second when she had believed him that there was actually a honeymoon suite.

"Tell you what though, hubby-to-be, if it really is palatial, I'll kiss you til your respiratory bypass kicks in!" She grinned as his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"Donna!"

She strutted off. "Come on then, SpaceSpouse."

"You don't even know the way!"

"Let me guess, follow the little wall the way you've already been leading me?"

"Uh yeah." He fussed with his hair again. She was in charge now, that was a good thing, he reasoned—it was how she coped. He was happy to follow along at her heels, as long as he kept her away from Archui, or any other bloke for that matter.


	3. Chapter 3

The young girl was almost as tall as he was, but gawky in a typical teenage way. She openly stared at him and played with her hair. The Doctor sighed and waited.

"I'm Clia," she blurted out eventually.

"Hello, Clia. I'm the Doctor," he spoke evenly, giving her a careful smile. She blushed and her eyes darted away from him, back to the gaggle of older women who fell silent, watching them across the village square.

Clia was quiet for another moment then started again. "She's called Donna."

"Yes," he replied carefully although there had been no question in Clia's voice, only frank curiosity.

"She's your mate, then?"

"…Yes."

"Well…She ain't acting like no bride I've ever seen."

"Donna and I didn't grow up around here, Clia, we have different customs than your people."

"She's real little. And she seems so familiar with you."

"We…we have been together a while now. Traveling together, I mean."

Clia gawped at him. The Doctor sighed internally. He should stop talking, there were so many cultural differences and he was going into this society blind to their norms. The more he babbled the more he was only going to get more entangled, but he'd been waiting for the ceremony for nineteen minutes now and that was a long time for him to be left alone with no one to talk to. Especially when he was feeling nervous. No, not nervous—why would he be nervous after all?—Just antsy.

"But you only just got betrothed! Did you disgrace her?"

He blinked. "What?"

"Did you, you know, did you steal her from her family?"

"No!" Well, not on purpose. He shifted his feet.

Clia peered at him speculatively. "That's why we're building the wall, you know."

"The one around the village?"

She nodded. He opened his mouth to inquire further about the wall – was it to prevent bride kidnap? Or to keep in the abductees? But Clia ploughed on, still obsessively interested in the subject of his matrimony.

"She ran away with you then? When she was a girl?"

"No, when she was about to get married, actually, but—"

"To another man?!" Clia was scandalized.

"Yes, but he was a bad man, he wanted to…" _feed her to giant carnivorous spiders_ "…hurt her."

"Oh." She didn't seem fazed by that, just confused in general as she gazed at him.

"But now she will become my wife," the Doctor offered, hopefully, fighting to get the topic back into a realm that Clia could accept.

"And you wouldn't hurt her so bad?"

Something inside him twisted sharply at Clia's words. "I would n—" he began and then stopped.

He wanted to say he would never hurt Donna but it almost seemed like tempting fate to make such a proclamation. Had there been anyone he had ever been with who hadn't been harmed, some of them killed? He couldn't even fall back on some feeble modification, that his wife would never be hurt at his own hand, without thoughts of Gallifrey making a mockery of such a qualification. Thinking about his home planet—thoughts that were never far from his mind anyway—cast a pall over everything.

Clia's eyes were growing rounder and she took a stumbling step back. Noticing her tremble, the Doctor forced his demeanor back to normal and took a breath. For a moment the darkness in his mind had threatened to dim even the beautiful sunshine of the afternoon and he was determined not to let that happen. There was such anticipation in the air, excited murmurings in an ever growing crowd of villagers as they came out of their homes and gathered together around the edges of the square, staring at him when they thought he wasn't looking and whispering about his bride.

His bride! For a day that had begun so ominously, events had now placed them in such a situation that if the Doctor were to be honest with himself, made even his weary hearts flutter with excitement. Clia fidgeted and the Doctor realized he had never answered her question.

"I will protect Donna with everything I have, Clia. No one will hurt her again if I have breath left in my body to stop it."

Clia's eyes widened at the severity in his tone and she nodded, still looking uncertain and giving him a wide berth. Good, the Doctor thought gruffly, maybe now she would buzz off and leave him alone. He turned around and took in their surroundings, purposefully stepping away from the girl.

The village square was loosely arranged about a makeshift stage that backed up onto the manse Archui had mentioned earlier: some kind of sprawling building with so many added on parts and structures it looked labyrinthine. He had made discreet inquiries already and learned that the mine entrance was encircled completely by this building.

The stage had several tiers – more signs of the typical hierarchical structure of agrarian communities. The top tier was shrouded behind veiled framework and the tier below that had an elaborate tableau at which Archui and his cronies had seated themselves only a few minutes earlier. They were chatting animatedly and imbibing generous helpings of what the Doctor presumed was the ceremonial wine. He had already been offered a glass and been able to check its safety. Just a standard fermented wheat beverage, potent but not harmful to either himself or Donna.

"She's so beautiful," Clia stated out of the blue and a little wistfully.

"Yes, she's…stunning."

"I wish I could make my hair shine like hers, I-I'm not beautiful." She was whispering now, sounding forlorn.

"Clia, don't be silly, you are a very pretty girl, you will have a husband some day who will find you beautiful too."

She looked up at him and beamed even as she blushed. She closed the distance between them with skipping steps and the Doctor backed up, his hearts sinking. What had he done?

"Er..."

Clia was making eyes at him, this turn of events was _not_ the direction he had been aiming for. "Clia, can you go check on my _bride_ for me?"

"Why? She's only in the house with my aunties across the square." Clia indicated the humble dwelling not fifty feet from where they stood in the village square. The Doctor followed where the girl pointed. He knew exactly where Donna was, every sense on alert for any sign she was in trouble.

"You thinking she will she try to run away from marrying you too?" Clia's eyes widened at her own daringness and she danced back a few steps away from him.

"No! No. I just would like to see if she needs anything."

She cocked her head. "Okay then, Mr. Doctor."

"It's just Doc…" But Clia was already gone, bounding across the dusty ground. The Doctor watched as she popped her head in at the window of the room where he had already determined Donna was 'preparing' – whatever that meant.

Then the girl was running back again. "She's fine."

"Did she have any message for me?"

"She just said tell him "I'm fine, you plum". What's a plum?"

The Doctor let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. They had a code phrase that would let him know if Donna was in trouble and that wasn't it.

"Your Donna – she's fully a woman."

The Doctor blinked. Was that a question? Clia looked like she expected a response. "Evidently," he said quietly.

"But she's really short!"

The Doctor glanced around at the thickening crowd, understanding Clia's point now that he saw the only people here shorter than his companion were children. Most of the people were men but there was not much of a height differential between genders either – possibly evolutionary selection at this preindustrial point in their development as a species. It looked like from their frames these women were accustomed to manual labor too, most being around six feet tall.

"But…I don't get it. Tonight's her wedding night."

The Doctor froze. Clia's questions were getting increasingly more jarring.

"Why ain't she ascared? Did you…did you already…dishonor her?" She blushed deeply and looked down at the ground.

"Clia?"

She looked up at him, shame and curiosity written all over her face.

"You would get into trouble if your father knew you were talking to me about these matters?"

Her eyes went wide. "Oh! Don't tell them! I shouldn't be speaking of such things at all! I'd get such a lashin'! Please! You can't be sayin nuthin!"

"I won't," he answered quietly. A lashing?

"So you did then?" She pressed her lips together and hopped on one foot.

"No. I didn't. I did not 'dishonor' her. Donna is a lady with so much honor…well, let's leave it at that." He ran a hand around the back of his neck.

"You love her." Clia sounded awed. "Why does that make you ashamed? She's yours now. Did you campaign for her a long time before she would yield?"

"It's not like that, Donna doesn't 'yield' anyway. Shouldn't you be getting back to your family?"

"They won't mind," she looked shifty.

"I don't think that is true, Clia. Let's get you back to your mum."

She nodded her head at the crowd and then, much to the Doctor's relief, abruptly took off running in response to a signal from an older woman. When he looked their way he noticed the family group were watching them intently. They quickly turned away at his gaze.

The Tih had kept their word that she would not be in the company of any men. Nonetheless, Donna was beginning to regret rejecting the Doctor's proprietary behavior when the barrage of questions began again.

"And he didn't dishonor you?"

"I already told you, no." Donna leaned back slightly to allow the girls who were fixing her hair to weave in the tiny flowers.

"An' has he ever been too forward?"

"What does that even mean? Never mind, I don't want to know, do I? No."

The elderly triad of women pursed their lips.

"Miss Donna, you don't know what it means for a man to be forward with a lady he is not married to?" It was her hostess who spoke, gently, as she once again plied Donna with food and water.

Donna graciously accepted another delicious fruit thing, quite enjoying the tuts and tsks of disapproval from the older women as the juice ran down her chin.

"Sorry," she said without a trace of contrition, accepting the cloths that passed for napkins around here apparently. "What was the question?"

"The Doctor. Is he forward with women?"

"Or girls?" her hostess chimed in nervously. "It's just my only daughter, Clia, is talking with him now and…" She trailed off and shared a frightened look with another woman who stood in the corner, swaying a baby on her hip.

Donna reached for her hostess's hand. "What's your name?" she asked quietly.

"PaVelte."

"PaVelte, I promise you, in that respect, your daughter is safer with the Doctor than any other man on this planet."

"Planet?"

"I just mean—no, he's not 'forward'—he's extremely respectful, always has been. And not just cause he knows I'd slap him six ways to Sunday if he tried anything." She ignored the horrified gasps at that. She didn't even begin to understand how even the notion of keeping a guy in line with an occasional swatting seemed to upset these people so much. "He's just not the type to try it on."

The three older women, who were apparently in charge around here, smacked their lips together – a signal Donna had come to recognize that they were moving on to their next question. Donna stifled a sigh.

The Doctor started pacing, aware of all the eyes on him. The uneasy quiet didn't last long before Clia was back at his side, a little out of breath and holding out a tray of food and water.

"What's going on, Clia?"

"My aunties made sure your Donna is replenished and we thought you might be hungry too." She shrugged shyly.

The Doctor considered for only a moment before his stomach growled at him. Relenting, he accepted the tray and sat down on a nearby bench made from tree stumps. Clia smiled, pleased that he had accepted her offering. The Doctor dimly recalled his academy training in cultural anthropology: it was disrespectful to refuse food from a host. Better yet, break bread _with_ your host and it was an almost universal signal of acceptance and trust.

He gestured to the bench beside him. Clia was awkward but she radiated honest curiosity, something he himself was no stranger to and he appreciated her frankness – or he would have if she wasn't so focused on the one topic the Doctor himself was most preoccupied by: Donna.

But no one else from this tribe had ventured within fifteen feet of him since he had been led here by Mobet.

"Would you like to eat with me, Clia?"

She nodded happily and took a seat next to him on the bench. He followed her lead as she munched her way through some kind of sticky honeyed bread coated in seeds and laughed easily with her when they bit messily into juicy pomegranate-esque fruits. In fact, as long as her mouth was too full to ask her incessant questions, the Doctor enjoyed her company. He processed every bite, making sure there was nothing in the biochemistry of the meal that might be having an adverse affect on Donna but it was all simple foodstuffs, nothing dangerous for a human.

Eventually, the food was gone and there was still no sign of Donna. Clia produced washcloths from her apron and watched him as he cleaned his hands and face. He could feel further impending interrogation coming and she was quick to meet that expectation.

"So Miss Donna, has no other husband before you?"

"No, she doesn't."

"But she isn't afraid?"

"Donna isn't afraid of me, Clia. Why would you keep asking that?"

Clia chewed on her lower lip for a moment. "She's _your_ first."

There was no good answer to that one.

"I mean, you have no other wife?" she tried again.

"Clia, let's talk about the Tih, tell me about your village."

She rolled her eyes. "Boring. Nothing much happens here. Until you. You…you are…and the only husband to a wife…what will you do when the harvest time comes?"

He didn't follow what she was saying, so he waited.

"And I'm almost an adult now, I'll be 30 in the spring…"

He did a quick mental calculation, thirty seemed so young to his Time Lord lifetime, but in this planet's chronology she would only be adolescent for another decade.

"And if she doesn't please you, as you say she isn't good at yielding to you, well…my fathers say we could use some fresh stock around here."

The Doctor felt his eyes widen and his blood run cold as he realized what this young girl was suggesting. She spoke faster now, quietly as if afraid of being overheard, looking down at her hands.

"They say we're dying. They say you and your Donna were sent from the twelve spirits, to renew our village with your seed…

"Clia, I'm not even the same spe-"

"…to mix with ours." She was bright red now, her eyes squeezed shut, she couldn't bear to look at him, she was so embarrassed.

"Clia, Clia look at me. Please."

She opened her eyes and twisted her hands in her hair.

"Were you sent to me?"

"No. I just heard the grown ups talking, and then the womenfolk, well sometimes they make stuff happen to help the village and everyone knows I will be the next one eligible for marriage."

"You are too young! Wait, they said there hadn't been a wedding here in years. Are your friends not ready for marriage?"

"There was Avielle, but…my closest agemates are even younger," she said quietly a shadow crossing her face. "The other girls are too little."

"_You_ are too little, Clia."

"I'm not!" she said defensively. "Well, if you could wait until spring, I might have my womanhood by then, but in the meantime I am well-trained as a wife you know, I can bring in the harvest and my mother serves three husbands."

"_Three?!"_

"We used to be one man one wife, but the spirits lifted that prohibition when all the babies were born boys, or most of them, anyway."

"How convenient," murmured the Doctor.

"I think our chief would like to sire on your betrothed," Clia blurted out and then clamped a hand over her mouth in horror.

The Doctor's eyes darkened and the chill spread to his bones. He took a breath, stilling himself before answering her.

"Yes, I got that impression, Clia. But it doesn't work like that, not where we come from. I won't share Donna, not with anyone."

Her chin trembled.

"What about me? Not good enough for you? Just me or all my people?"

He swallowed, knowing he had to choose his words carefully. He cast a sidelong glance at the women watching them and knew this was a test. They weren't so ignorant of their fate, they needed his 'seed' – and Donna's too – this society was desperate, visitors would be tolerated here only as long as they kept up pretence that such a thing was something they would consider.

He reached out a hand and tenderly brushed his fingertips over the young girl's clenched knuckles. She looked so miserable, already fearful of rejection, and terrified of his acceptance.

"You are too young, Clia. You are a beautiful girl, and absolutely _not_ too good for me, anything but. Nonetheless, you are too little, it would be cruel of me to do as you ask. You are more than a year away from being ready."

He really no idea when Clia would come into what she called her womanhood, but it had to be more than a year, for the simple reason that a groom could be pressed into marriage now but wait no more than a year to consummate, and he needed to buy time before there could be talk of his becoming betrothed to this awkward young girl.

"Clia, when you go back to your mother, I want you to tell her something, all of them," He indicated the onlookers and raised his voice even though he ostensibly addressed only Clia.

"I can help you. I can help your village, but not through marriage, not through what you are too nervous to even name, not that way, and you are too young. Don't be afraid of me, please, Donna and I will find a way to save your people."

"You can make the girls be born?"

"I will do everything I can to help your people, Clia. Now, no more talk of getting married off at too tender an age, okay?"

He moved a gentle finger to her chin and tipped her face upwards. It didn't feel quite right to be touching her at all, especially given the conversation, but he knew one of the worst mistakes they could make was to appear that they considered themselves too good for the locals.

"He cannot wed you without a courtship." The three older women were unrelenting in their inquisition.

"Well, we've been…uh…courting a long time now." Donna shrugged into an exquisitely embroidered shawl PaVelte and her friend were arranging around her shoulders. Donna had learned the other girl's name was Aviel, she was young to be a mother, couldn't be more than a teenager Donna estimated. She smiled at her and the girl returned it shyly.

"For a Tih wedding ceremony, we must ascertain that they the girl had a proper a courtship and her suitor acted honorably during it."

"Honorably?"

"For instance," PaVelte offered by way of elaboration, "did he seek permission of your elders? Was he always fully clothed in your company?

"He's very honorable. Pinstripes and all. And my granddad loves him."

"But you were alone with him when our Mobet found you?"

"Yes."

"What would your grandfather say if he knew you were unchaperoned?"

"Actually…" Donna thought back with a smile. "The Doctor asked my grandfather permission, sorta, and my gramps made sure to ask the Doctor to look after me."

"So he trusted you to be alone with a man? Before you were married?"

"He was right to." Donna's tone was not quite cold but she let enough assertiveness slip into her voice that the audience went quiet. "The Doctor would never hurt me."

"What about earlier today when he touched your hair?"

Donna swallowed and shifted in her seat. "He meant nothing by it. He likes touches, he's…been alone a lot of his life, that's all. He's just—huggy. In a good way."

"He puts his arms around you?"

"I heard he was doing this when the Chief was talking to them," another woman chirped up accusingly.

Donna adjusted the dress they had given her. It was soft but still felt strange against her skin. she was glad they had let her bathe first, as primitive as their facilities were it had felt wonderful to get the dust off her body. "He's protective, that's all. He was keeping me safe."

"I saw him stroking your arm before he let you come in here, and he was leaning very close."

This time it was a younger girl who piped up, maybe 16 years old. Then Donna caught herself and tried to figure out if that meant she was actually 32? But she sounded young and shy, asking out of open curiosity rather than accusation.

"He might have got carried away so close to the wedding, but he's very gentle." Donna squirmed. She had no idea the Doctor apparently touched her so much but if the battery of questions she had faced for the last twenty minutes or so was anything to go by, these women were very observant. She was running out of ways to explain it away to them, much less to herself.

"Well. All I can say it is a good thing this young man will finally jump the broom with you, my girl, he has risked disgracing you these many days and it is high time he commits to you—and you to him—forever.

I already have, Donna thought. "Jump the broom? Does this mean you will marry us?"

The three elders nodded their heads as one.

"We just just need to wait here a little while longer until the elders are prepared. I'll talk you through the ceremony if you like. Are you ready?" PaVelte asked her gently as the others filed out of the little house except for a few younger girls putting final touches on Donna's hair.

_No,_ Donna thought as she pulled the edges of the shawl tighter around her before meeting the other woman's eyes. "As I'll ever be."-


	4. Chapter 4

The Doctor had wandered slowly around the town square, made awkward attempts at small talk with the women there, then let out a sigh of relief when Donna finally appeared in the doorway of the little house.

She was dressed in a simple shift, the only nuptial ostentation being a lacy shawl she held around her and a modest garland of wildflowers worked into her hair, which was flowing around her shoulders.

It was a wedding outfit without pretension or frill, and yet she looked absolutely magnificent, standing uncertainly in the doorway, blinking in the bright sun that dappled her face and hair through the straw weave of the portico.

He sauntered over to her deliberately slowly (not wanting to give into the temptation to run to her side) and tipped her a wink when he caught her eye. As he had hoped, some of the uncertainty faded from her features when she saw him and she smiled, gesturing down at herself with chagrin, and just the smallest amount of shyness.

Coming up to her, and feeling strangely bashful himself all of a sudden, the Doctor reached out to touch one of the flowers in her hair and was startled when a battalion of older women instantly converged on him, batting him away.

"Now now! No touching! Not til she's yours, right and proper."

Donna stilled and he winked at her again reassuringly then addressed the scolding women. "Ah. Yes. Of course. How silly of me. She just looks so beautiful I couldn't help myself for a minute there."

The women backed down a little but kept a close eye on him. Donna rolled her eyes. "Laying it on a bit thick, Doctor," she muttered but he just beamed at her.

The women took her hands and led her through the crowd. The Doctor caught a flash of purple under her long dress. Of course, her converse! The Doctor's proud smile became a huge grin as he took in Donna's footwear.

She glanced back and saw him. "Oi. Shut it you, not one word. Trainers are an important part of my wedding ensemble these days; I think I've got this runaway bride thing down, thank you very much!"

He held up his hands in mock surrender and fell into step behind her. "Very sensible!" He grinned gleefully at her, exhilaration flowing through him. He dug his hands into his pockets before he was tempted to reach for her and incur the wrath of her entourage.

PaVelte stepped forward and pressed a small branch of buds and blooms into Donna's hands, a cutting from the same kind of tree that the flowers in her hair had come from. With a begrudging nod and smile, Mobet placed a similar flower garland around the Doctor's neck.

They were led to the base of the stage and left there as the crowd backed away from them in a small circle. Donna watched them retreat as she nervously fiddled with the edges of her wrap. The Doctor ached to take her hand and reassure her.

"Hey," he whispered and she looked up at him, her eyes huge. "So did you see the honeymoon suite?"

She blew out a breath and threw him a very Donna-like scathing look. He grinned and leaned in toward her.

"And? Do I get that kiss now?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, just enough to let her know he was joking. Mostly.

"Not even close, mate."

He puckered his lips in a pout and gave her the best puppy dog eyes he could manage, sidling closer and closer.

"What are you doing?" she asked, sounding slightly less sure of herself now and looking to his lips.

"You know if it's luxury you want, Donna, I know some spectacular resorts on Cabuale IV…"

"Oh yeah?"

He stepped even closer and reached out to finger the delicate lattice trimming on her shawl.

She opened her mouth to say something else but was cut off from a screech by the elder women, who descended on the Doctor in a flurry of exhortations to wait until the ceremony was over. They hustled him back from her and formed a protective circle around Donna, who shrugged one shoulder and smiled at him. He hrrumphed. Anyone would think she liked seeing him told off.

A collection of older men and women encircled the couple and Donna's posture tensed. Seeing her anxiety set the Doctor on edge too.

Beaming with pride and yet almost stumbling in her shyness, Clia walked into the center of the circle and knelt, holding up a ceremonial wooden bowl filled with water. At Mobet and PaVelte's encouragement, Donna and the Doctor walked up to where the young girl knelt and dipped their hands in the water. The Doctor brushed his fingertips against Donna's palm, gleeful at rebelling against the no touching rule almost as much as he was happy just being able to touch her again.

"Ceremonial washing," PaVelte whispered discreetly with a smile when neither bride nor groom seemed to know what to do.

"Thank you," Donna murmured, giving the other woman a grateful smile. Seeing the look that passed between them, the Doctor was impressed how Donna was already forming relationships here.

Taking her hands in his, the Doctor's fingers glided over hers as they washed each other's hands gently until PaVelte nodded and handed them each a little towel. Archui descended the steps to a kind of dais set in the second tier of the stage and a hush fell over the crowd.

"Do you, Doctor, bring your betrothed before the council of elders this day to be joined to you?"

Giving Donna another soft smile, the Doctor turned to the village chief. "I do."

"And do you swear in front of the council and the twelve spirits of elevation to always protect and honor this woman? To provide for her every need? To meet her every desire?"

The Doctor was surprised to find he was holding his breath as Archui continued. The list went on and on, from cherishing his wife to slaughtering his prize bull at the birth of their first child to nurture any and all offspring from this and all future unions. Both he and Donna raised their eyebrows at that one.

Nonetheless, the Doctor breathed an "I do" at every expectant pause in the chief's litany, not even balking when asked if he would provide for all her extended family. Donna's lips quirked and he knew that later she'd be teasing him about taking care of Sylvia as a good son in law should. Amazingly, he didn't even mind, as long as she was smiling at him with the nervousness fading from her eyes he would cheerfully agree to anything.

The chief's posture shifted and the Doctor caught a leer cross the man's face. "Do you, Doctor, promise to satisfy your bride in her bed chamber with every rising of the moon until she has borne you many children?"

He blinked. The wording was unusual for just about any humanoid society. Sometimes brides were exhorted to please their husbands in such a fashion but this was a first for him for such a role reversal. He saw the corners of Donna's mouth twitch and she gave him an embarrassed smile.

"I do." And if this promise was made with a little more gusto than some of the others he didn't think anyone noticed. He added under his breath "…if she would have me." Donna looked at him strangely but he just kept smiling.

A seemingly endless list of 'I do's later, Archui beckoned to a tall, regal looking lady – the only woman to share the stage with him. He addressed her as his most honored wife, Alnchui. She came to his side and repeated his words in the same tone, asking Donna if she came here today to be joined to the man.

"Bride Donna, do you as the Doctor's betrothed come before the council of elders this day to be joined to him?"

"I do," Donna said softly, stealing an uncharacteristically shy glance at her groom that made his hearts beat faster. The breeze lifted her hair and she trembled slightly. The Doctor longed to hold her in his arms and shelter her from the wind, from all these eyes on her, from everything. Making all those vows hadn't been difficult at all, he had meant every word.

"Bride Donna, do you swear in front of the council and the twelve spirits of elevation to devote your eternal fealty to the Doctor and his house?"

The Doctor watched Donna square her shoulders. "I do."

"Do you promise your obedience, submission and surrender to your husband in all things?"

Donna reeled back slightly. The Doctor sucked in a breath, trepidation filling his hearts.

"I promise…to take care of him," she offered. Alnchui frowned. "And honor him," Donna added hopefully.

"Translational issue," the Doctor chimed in with a casual shrug. "She means the same thing."

Archui cleared his throat. "Miss Donna, you must submit to your husband and make obeisance to his will. Do you not reconcile yourself to such an undertaking?"

"Oh," Donna said, as if only now catching his meaning. "Then yes, I will obey and submit to my husband, the Doctor, and everything else he could ever hope for, in his wildest dreams." She smiled sweetly and lowered her head in an act of deference to the chief.

Alnchui and Archui exchanged a confused look. It felt like the whole village was holding its breath. Eventually he turned to the Doctor. "Is that to your satisfaction as a groom?"

"More than I could ever dream of," the Doctor responded coyly and then at Archui's perplexed look he added, "Yes. I am very pleased with my bride."

"Then you may step up to be elevated." He indicated the first level of the stage. Feeling tension drain out of his body, the Doctor nimbly hopped up.

Donna accepted Alnchui's hand to help her step up beside the Doctor. The wife of the chief then took Donna's flowers, setting them to the side and placing Donna's hand between both of the Doctor's. He smiled, giving her fingers a gentle squeeze.

Somewhere someone has started a drumbeat, it took the Doctor a moment to realize it wasn't just the echo of his soundly thumping hearts inside his chest when Donna squeezed his hands in return.

Donna jumped a little when others took up the rhythm and suddenly the air was filled with the sound of drumming, it was almost primal in a way that made her breathe faster and her stomach flutter. She was so glad the Doctor was holding her hands. She looked up at him and saw so much joy in his eyes, and so much faith in her, that it steadied her jangled nerves.

Her hands shook only a little when they shared the wine from a chalice carved from very old wood. One brief look to the Doctor assured her it was safe, but it was certainly strong, burning her throat and then causing warmth to spread out from her chest down to her toes. Archui kept encouraging her to drink more until she started to cough.

"Okay?" the Doctor inquired, handing the cup firmly back to Alnchui.

She nodded. There was a chill in the air now and the alcohol helped a little. After the cup made its way around the elders, the chief handed it back to the Doctor. It was almost empty and he looked at him questioningly before Archui encouraged him to toss it to the crowd. The Doctor raised his eyebrows so eventually the other man took his hand and whispered in his ear. The Doctor shrugged and as carefully as he could, lobbed the cup into the village square below. A group of young men made a dive for it amid a roar from the crowd. Donna watched, fascinated, as the winner held it above his head jubilantly and his friends went back and forth between grumbling and cheering him.

Next, a small round cake was thrust between them. Alnchui looked particularly proud as she held it up for the animated crowd. Her husband murmured a blessing and then soaked the pastry liberally with something that smelled like whiskey.

"Share in the sweetness to represent sharing your lives together," Alnchui exhorted them when neither bride nor groom moved to take the cake from her hands.

"Ah, of course," replied the Doctor easily, taking a small bite then offering some to Donna. She glanced at him surreptitiously and he nodded that it was safe so she tentatively bit into the cake. She tried her hardest not to make a face: it might have been delicious but the alcohol drowned out the other flavors. Swallowing it down as quickly as she could, Donna was aware of the Doctor—and an entire village—watching her. There was understanding in his eyes as he wolfed down the rest so she wouldn't have to. She gave him a grateful smile and he winked in return, such a light in his eyes that it made her stomach quiver. She had no idea why she was so nervous.

Archui had gone back to intoning blessings and commands, some more drivel about obedience and submission. Donna tuned him out.

She kept her eyes fixed on the Doctor throughout the long, repetitious nuptials and he clasped her hands firmly in his. She shivered as the sun moved lower in the sky and the Doctor rubbed her hands comfortingly. At one point, Alnchui threaded some kind of finely woven lace rope around their hands and wrists, much to the exultation of the restless crowd. _At least it's not handcuffs, this time,_ Donna thought and looked up to catch the Doctor gazing at her. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled and she wondered if he was having the same thought.

Finally, Archui's hands dropped on each of their shoulders and he turned them in place to face the crowd. A satisfied cheer went through the village.

The chief disappeared behind the veiled frame at the top level of the stage only to reappear a few moments later. Then they were encouraged to take another step up to the level of the dais—the Doctor helping Donna as the tiers were tall for her to manage in one step. The cheers continued as now Archui's men congratulated the new couple.

With one final turn back to the crowd, Archui pronounced their marriage validated by the council of elders and the crowd fell silent. The incessant drumbeat even stopped, much to Donna's relief. The villagers dropped to their knees.

Momentarily confused, Donna and the Doctor looked at each other then followed suit.

"No, face the council," Archui urged in a whisper so they turned around again and knelt this time in the direction of the central building the chief called the manse. The veil around the top of the stage seemed to flutter but Donna couldn't tell if that was just the wind, which was stronger this high up on the stage. All this turning and bowing on top of the endless chanting of vows and the alcohol was making her dizzy, she was glad now that PaVelte had insisted she eat something beforehand.

She leaned against the Doctor slightly as they both crouched on their knees and he moved an arm around her as Archui spoke in prayer, his hands spread out over their heads. Donna bowed her head obediently but then looked up again as his wife approached them. Alnchui held out the edge of a large square of gauzy fabric to the chief and together they draped it over the kneeling couple. Donna gasped quietly as she and the Doctor were completely covered in a veil.

He took the opportunity of the modicum of privacy the material afforded them to meet her eyes. She could see his usual enthusiasm and something more in his expression as he gently cupped her cheek.

"Doing okay?" he whispered and she nodded. As far as she was concerned they could spend the rest of the ceremony under this thing away from prying eyes. Archui was droning on now about assuring them protection from evil spirits, his words only slightly slurred from a completely different kind of spirits.

The Doctor tightened his hold on her and she leaned into him closer as they were "lassoed", for want of a better word, with a circle of cord around the outside of the veil. The chief spoke about the symbolism of the binding of the husband and wife in matrimony.

"Not much longer now," the Doctor promised, his hand rubbing circles on her back. Almost before he had finished speaking the rope loosened and their covering was whipped away. Donna blinked and held on to the Doctor for dear life as another wave of dizziness engulfed her.

He kept his arm securely around her as Archui raised them up to standing again. As if that was the cue everyone was waiting for, the drumming started up again and it seemed like everyone was chattering at once. Donna closed her eyes and then the Doctor was drawing her closer, slowly, until he was embracing her and she melted into his arms with a sigh of relief. This only seemed to further incite the villagers' cheers and she buried deeper into his chest.

"Now we celebrate!" Archui crowed and clapped them both on the shoulders again. Donna flinched and the Doctor's arms came around her stronger in response.

She lifted her head and caught the Doctor's eyes. He bent his head until his lips touched her ear. "Hi, Missus," he murmured then pulled back to see her face again. His delighted smile was contagious and she laughed and batted at his chest, glad when he kept his arms tight around her.

He bent his head again and goosebumps spread over his skin when his lips tickled her earlobe. "How did you like your wedding, wife?"

"Better than the last one!"

He tipped his head back and laughed at that, hugging her even tighter. "Care to dance?" he asked and then gestured with his chin. Below them the villagers had broken up into couples and small groups and were dancing to the melodic sounds of pipes and possibly some kind of banjo. Now the drumming became a background beat and didn't feel nearly so oppressive.

"Sure," Donna responded as flippantly as she could manage, but her faint answer was whipped away by a gust of wind. She was trying her hardest not to get caught up in all of this, to remember it wasn't real, no matter how much his eyes said otherwise. "I'd like that," she added, another whisper he probably didn't hear the din of the crowd. Her heart skipped as his hands gentled on her back and he leaned in closer.

It was getting harder and harder to think straight. He released her just enough to step back and bow low in front of her. Then he lifted her hand, which he had never let go of, and kissed the backs of her fingers. The darkness in his eyes when his lips claimed her hand felt like a blanket of warmth suffusing her whole body.

Donna breathed out slowly, centering herself. The happiness in his eyes decided her: there was no way she would be the one to bring them back to reality any time soon. He was still waiting for her response. She reached for him and pulled him close, letting her lips tickle _his_ ear this time and not missing his shiver in response. "I'd love to dance, Spaceman."


	5. Chapter 5

The Doctor was too busy staring into the blue eyes of the woman in his arms to notice when the fiddlers finished the jig with a flourish, to a hearty round of applause from the villagers.

He stroked her hair, glowing like fire in the dying rays of sunlight. She smiled up at him and blushed a little under his scrutiny when he didn't drop his arm from around her waist. All around them men stepped back from their dance partners and bowed respectfully.

"I think the song is over, Doctor," Donna said breathlessly but her smile broadened when he still didn't immediately let her go. She was still trying to catch her breath and he was reminded of the radon in the air. He swallowed, and released her from his embrace reluctantly. He retreated back from her only enough to offer her another deep bow. She flapped at him, smiling.

"Stop bowing! What are you like? Nutter! Can we get off this stage do you think? I feel like everyone is staring at us up here."

"Of course." He cast one last glance up at the top level. It was impossible to tell if the shadows behind the veils were moving or if it was just the wind, which was picking up as the evening approached. He caught Donna looking at him and following his gaze. She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side. He shrugged slightly. He didn't have a good feeling about this 'council' – if they existed at all. For all he knew, the mysterious veil hid nothing more than a superstition Archui hid behind when his tribal leadership decisions might be viewed as unpopular.

But he couldn't concentrate for long on such matters, not when his radiant bride was at his side. Even though he knew on some level this wedding was make-believe, the way he felt about Donna was sometimes the only tangible thing left in the universe.

He was careful helping her down, making sure the wind didn't blow her dress up as she tried to negotiate the tiers made for people a good six inches taller than her. At the last one he jumped down and turned back to place his hands at her waist. They both tensed and he wondered if he was going to get slapped for this. It would be completely worth it, he thought, feeling her soft warmth through the fabric of the shift. But then she responded to his encouragement and jumped into his arms.

He laughed delightedly and held her close, she was berating him and smiling widely when out of nowhere children ran up to them and showered them with a hail of small soft objects.

Instantly the Doctor moved to protect her but she grabbed his hand and was quick to reassure him. "It's okay, just flowers, like confetti I think." She held out her palm and showed him the tiny petals and buds gathered there.

He relaxed with a smile, but stayed at her side, plucking a few more flowers from her hair and they laughed when another crowd of children tossed armfuls of petals over them.

The children—almost all of them boys, the Doctor noted, remembering what Clia had told him—danced around them, jabbering expectantly.

"Go on then!" It was an elder who spoke now, as she came up to quiet the children. Then she stood with them and regarded the Doctor and Donna, an almost maternal smile on her face, a stark difference to her earlier air of disapproval.

"Your wedding dance is incomplete." She came closer and nudged the Doctor's elbow.

"What's she talking about?" Donna looked to him. He knew she was asking him to unravel this new mystery on a day that had been full of them. He frowned in concentration as he searched his memory for what could be expected of them now.

Then a suspicion came to him even as he rubbed his neck, the motion unsettling more petals from his hair. Tiny pink buds bounced off his hands.

"Oh! Er…Donna?" He gulped.

"What does it mean, Doctor?"

"You know that thing they do, on Earth, some parts of it anyway, at a reception, tapping their cutlery against champagne glasses for the bride and groom to—?"

Her eyes went very wide. "That's what the confetti means? You said no kissing!"

She stepped back from him and placed her hands on her hips. "No church, no Reverend, no rings, no papers, and No Kissing! I remember it clearly! Just for as long as we need to help th—"

He closed the distance between them and placed a finger over her mouth quickly before she could spill the nature of their unplanned wedding in her panic. He didn't want to blow their cover now, not when they had gone through with the ceremony and everything.

She batted his hand away causing a ripple of unrest among the onlookers, and fell silent, settling for glaring at him instead, but her eyes still looked more nervous than angry.

"I was right, at least, about there being no 'thou may now kiss the bride' part?" He offered, tugging at his ear. She didn't look convinced. All around them children still bounced and gabbled, the elder's soft voice doing little to quell their enthusiasm.

The Doctor tilted his head and looked at Donna as he scrunched up his features apologetically in an unspoken question.

Backing away from him an inch, Donna drew in a shaky breath and shook her head.

The Doctor inclined his head to show acquiescence and she relaxed a little, her eyes still huge as she regarded him. He schooled his features not to reveal his disappointment and slid an arm around her shoulders as he turned back to the onlookers with a deliberately carefree shrug.

"Not going to happen."

Groans of good-natured protest arose around them, along with catcalls and whistling.

"You are married now, you know!" another older woman offered with a knowing smile.

"I'm sorry, ladies, that just isn't done, where we come from."

"If you don't even kiss her then how you ever gonna make a baby?" One boy blurted out cheekily.

"In public, I mean, we don't kiss in public," he added hurriedly, feeling Donna tense up beside him.

She reached for his hand where it rested on her shoulder and grabbed it. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. "What do you say we check out the gourmet buffet table?"

"There's a….you're having me on." She elbowed him in the ribs and he somehow managed to yelp and grin at the same time.

"There is food though." He led her over to where an impatient Clia and her friends were eagerly manning a table full of platters of more of the sticky seed bread and fruit. He concealed a nervous smile as Clia chattered gaily and flitted about serving Donna as if she was some kind of queen. It was sweet, but the Doctor was distinctly uncomfortable with the number of pairs of eyes he could feel watching the three of them closely. Probably not a good idea to tell Donna just yet that this friendly kid was effectively auditioning for the role of second wife.

The Doctor was halfway through his third plate of food when Donna nudged him. She tilted her head and when he followed her gaze he saw a woman not much younger than Donna watching them from a doorway. When she saw his eyes on her she turned immediately and tried to run back into the house but came up short when Archui blocked her way.

The Doctor threw Donna a questioning look. She shrugged. "I haven't met her, but she does look familiar, she might have been one of the women at PaVelte's house earlier. The chief has been trying to get her to approach us for a while now."

His eyebrow quirked at that but quickly became a frown when Archui all but frog marched the woman over to where they were sitting near the fire. Another man followed at their heels, fury in his eyes.

The Doctor stood up, keeping Donna behind him. As usual, Archui's loud words preceded him, carrying clearly across the suddenly quieter village square.

"Doctor, allow me the pleasure of introducing you to my kin brother and his beautiful young wife, IslaCui."

IslaCui hung back and stared determinedly at the ground. Warily, the Doctor held out his hand to Archui's brother. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name?" he asked calmly.

The man took a breath as if to compose himself. "Beccui." He accepted the Doctor's hand and looked him up and down. The surface signs of a challenge were present but what the Doctor sensed most strongly from the man was fear.

"IslaCui is my wife." Beccui added, somewhat redundantly.

"Beccui is her first husband," Archui put in. Beccui lifted his chin.

"IslaCui is the only wife to be so long past her bridetime and yet serves only one man," Archui went on, pointedly. "As it is customary for the bride and groom to dance with the guests as well as each other, I would like you to consider my sister-in-law, Doctor."

The Doctor stilled. "My bride is tired, Chief Archui, she will not be dancing anymore this evening." There was a tense pause as the two men looked at each other. By now everyone around them was silent.

"And you, Doctor? Do you tire of Tih celebrations too?"

"Donna has walked a long way today Archui, you must forgive us that she will sit out this tradition." There was ice in his voice as he regarded the chief, who seemed to wilt a little at his guest's unyielding tone. Waiting a calculated amount of time, the Doctor then appeared to soften slightly and offering a compromise.

"But if it would honor your traditions, I will gladly enjoy one more dance if IslaCui will have me."

He bowed slightly and Archui did the same. "Very well, Doctor, you have my word no man shall bother your wife for a dance this evening."

Their pact negotiated, Archui turned to IslaCui, who looked as if she wished the ground would swallow her up. The Doctor's hearts sank. His first priority had been to secure Donna's safety but now his concern for this frightened woman made him doubt the wisdom of the deal he had just made.

"As I said, Archui, if the lady is willing. Perhaps there is another partner you would choose for me? I will not force anyone into something they do not desire – I am of your mind in that respect." He tilted his head, recalling to the entire audience a principle they had been at pains to explain to him earlier – that while a Tih woman may serve several husbands, she did so willingly and joyfully, seeing her right to do so as a privilege and an honor. The Tih did not force a woman into a situation she did not desire—Archui had stated that as a point of pride.

Yet from IslaCui's demeanor, she appeared to be an exception to that rule. The Doctor looked back and met Donna's worried look with one of his own. "Okay?" he mouthed. She nodded and gestured at the table – she was surrounded by other women.

IslaCui surprised him then by lifting her head and meeting his eyes, then looking over his shoulder to his bride. Donna met her eyes and gave her a soft smile. Maybe his quiet words about the lady being willing had reassured IslaCui; the Doctor could only hope that was the case. He held out a hand and she tentatively accepted it, stepping closer.

Archui gave a smug smile and shouted jubilantly for the band to strike up again. All around them the tension was broken as couples paired up to dance.

With one last glance over her shoulder at her husband, IslaCui allowed the Doctor to lead her in time with the music. His hand found her waist with only the barest of touches but he could still see Beccui's fists clench and unclench out of the corner of his eye. Archui, on the other hand, looked on with delight.

"I love my husband," IslaCui blurted out.

The Doctor smiled gently. "I know. I would not dream of taking you from him, IslaCui. It's obvious he loves you too, very much." They stepped in time to the music, the Doctor maintaining a careful distance between their bodies and keeping an eye on Donna at the same time.

"I don't want any man but him. Ever," she stated firmly but her lower lip quivered when he looked at her closely.

"But your brother in law would have you accept a second husband?"

She sighed. "He speaks all the time of duty, of the future of our people. Beccui and I – we have not been yet blessed with child." She bit her lip, looking close to tears now.

"IslaCui, listen to me, I can help you. Maybe I can help you and Beccui conceive a daughter, or otherwise heal your village. But you need not fear me, I will never hurt you, do you understand?"

She looked at him, her feet coming to a halt as she considered his words. The Doctor glanced across the village square. Archui had wandered off with his cronies, probably in search of more "ceremonial" whiskey. He turned to Beccui, who had hovered near them at every turn.

Their eyes met and the Doctor inclined his head. Beccui and IslaCui's sighs of relief were simultaneous when the Doctor released her into her husband's arms. The Doctor's lips thinned into his own tense smile of relief and he turned to go back to Donna when he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Beccui.

"I thank you, Mr. Doctor. You and your wife have friends here now. You are a man of honor." He bowed low and the Doctor did the same, watching as IslaCui melted into her husband's arms and they disappeared into the dancing crowd.

Just then Mobet appeared from nowhere and motioned for the Doctor to come to his side. "The sun is setting, it's time for the ritual nuptial sacrifice."

Aaaaaaand there it was. He had known this was all too good to be true.

"_What_ ritual sacrifice?" Donna demanded, suddenly appearing at his side. The Doctor wouldn't have blamed her for shrieking but she actually sounded quite composed, under the circumstances. If anything, her tone carried something of his own resigned cynicism. She tucked her arm into his and he placed his hand over hers protectively.

Mobet blinked. "We will of course slaughter fresh meat for your wedding feast. We have a few cattle, pigs, horses or roosters. The chief would like to know which you prefer?"

Donna opened her mouth but then closed it again and looked to the Doctor. "Does he mean, like actual beef or pork or chicken?" she hissed suspiciously.

"Let's hope so," he replied with a grin that was only slightly strained.

"But the newest elevated male must first bless the animal," Mobet added, looking back and forth between them.

The Doctor patted Donna's hand. "Shall we go find out?"

It was indeed a simple matter of choosing dinner. The Doctor sighed in relief, scratched his head and looked around – these animals had been farmed, so this society was more than simple hunter-gatherers. Not nomadic either, unlike many uxorilocal communities, judging by their construction. Donna's hold on his arm tightened and when he looked to her she seemed pale.

"All right?" He pressed his hand to her forehead.

"Just…these…" She gestured to the farm animals. "This is like Shawn the Sheep or something, I don't know if I can eat something that just sniffed at me."

PaVelte had been standing near them and at Donna's words she held out her hand. "Would you like to come with me, we can freshen up together, Donnoble?"

"You what?" Donna squeaked at the exact same moment the Doctor exclaimed "Donnoble?"

PaVelte bowed her head. "I'm sorry, is that not to be your name? Is it Donable? Jonnoble? My husbands told me Mr. Doctor's name is Doctor John Noble."

"I…" Donna looked to him, perplexed.

The Doctor scratched his head. "PaVelte, may I call you that?"

She nodded, still looking down.

"PaVelte, it's alright, please, we were just surprised. Is that your naming custom, when a girl takes a husband, she takes his last name?"

PaVelte looked up at him and nodded. She still looked wary, as if afraid that perhaps it was a trick question. "Everyone knows this. When a man takes a wife he shares his family name with her. A woman has just one name, it becomes a record of the husbands she serves.

"So PaVelte is…?"

"I am wife to CliPai, then CiuVel. I was first AnPai then PaVel for many seasons and then three summers past and together we had only sons from there on out so I became wife to Ilte too."

"So Clia is…CliPai's daughter?"

"Yes. When I bore a daughter I had many men court me to be my second." She beamed at him proudly.

"But," Donna chimed in, "what was your name before you were married?"

"Oh." PaVelte looked genuinely surprised at the question. "It was…AnLia." She looked as if the word sounded strange in her mouth.

"AnLia, that's beautiful," Donna said softly. PaVelte's eyes widened. "Hush now, Donnoble, come away with me, let the men prepare our feast." She held out her hand to Donna who took it and followed her, looking over her shoulder at the Doctor.

He took a step after her. "Donna…"

"I'll be all right, I'm still within earshot. You do your…" She looked at the animals and the flames licking the spit and paled again. "…Your ritual man thing."

He followed them and took her elbow. "I'm not sure—" He was reluctant to let her leave but when Archui began to approach them too Donna gave him a little shove. PaVelte gasped in reproach, but Archui was talking before he was even upon them as was his way, as if he couldn't possibly be interrupting anything more important than his pronouncements.

"Mr. Doctor, there are many ceremonial traditions we know you would wish to honor on this most auspicious day." He bowed slightly but his tone left no doubt as to who was in charge of the situation.

"Go, I'll be fine," hissed Donna. Sighing, the Doctor obeyed.

An hour later, the sun long since gone over the horizon, the spit was turning and the smell of meat combined with the heat of the flames had the entire village gathered around the fire pit. Torches had been lit around the village square and together with the bright moon the little corner of the square where Donna was surrounded by PaVelte and the other women was illuminated enough that the Doctor could still see her clearly, much to his relief.

Archui and his cronies entreated him into one ceremonial tradition after another—most of which seemed to involve lots of the whiskey. But they had promised him this one was the last; they wanted him to bless their wives, citing the power of the marriage ceremony to enhance fertility and please the spirits. The Doctor was getting increasingly uncomfortable with the lengths he was going to accommodate his hosts. Nonetheless, this ritual was taking place on the threshold to the manse and having surreptitiously checked his sonic screwdriver when everyone else's head was bent in prayer, he could tell the crystallized minerals they were seeking were very close to the center of the building.

He stole another glance back at his bride. She seemed happy, talking animatedly, sometimes causing the gaggle of women to shriek with laughter or cover their mouths and reel back as if scandalized. He scrunched up his face and rubbed the back of his neck wondering what the consequences would be if Donna incited some kind of feminist liberation movement several millennia early.

Archui had made it clear these rituals were necessary to admit the head of a new couple into the manse but it seemed like the blessings and exhortations were going on interminably. The Doctor heard chanting for the second time and looked up sharply. Donna was surrounded by the youths of the tribe again, many of them young men, assailing her with questions, and yet more bits of flowers.

He excused himself and without waiting to be dismissed strode quickly over to his bride, the cluster of people parting rapidly at his approach.

"What's all this then?"

"Donnoble says she won't tell us nothing of your plans for the night!"

He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her closer, speaking softly near her ear. "How are you doing? Do you need anything?"

"I'm fine," she answered him with a tired smile. She felt cold to his touch so he shrugged out of his suit jacket and arranged it around her shoulders. It wasn't until she gave him a lopsided smile and looked up at him shyly, drawing the edges of his jacket around her wedding dress, that he caught his breath as he remembered the first day that they met.

It took him back and for a moment all he could do was stare at her. To think he had almost lost her, she had turned him down and he could have never seen her again. He put his arm back around her tighter this time. She sought out his free hand and held it.

"Long day," he murmured and she nodded, leaning into him a little as a fresh wave of villagers came up to offer their congratulations to the newlyweds, and ask their own probing questions. PaVelte stood off to one side with IslaCui and a young woman Donna had told him was called Avielle. Clia fussed with Avielle's baby – Donna was right, he noted, it was impossible to tell the baby's gender from the clothing. He wondered if that was deliberate—were female children in such demand that their gender was now being obscured?

Before the Doctor could follow that intriguing line of thought, he and Donna were showered with another avalanche of flower petals. As children's shouts assailed them, the elder women were soon back at their side. "Oh, don't mind them, just stirring up gossip, been so long since we had a wedding, saying that because she won't let you kiss her she'll be giving you trouble later on and all!" They peered at Donna closely. "You fretting, dear? Not to worry, your new husband will soon be taking you in hand."

Donna made a derisive noise and pulled back from her. "Oh for crying out loud, if I kiss him will you leave us alone?"

"Donna…" The Doctor's protests were drowned out by loud choruses of affirmation and shouts of victory, and before they knew it the crowd had tripled in size.

He turned toward her and moved his arm from around her shoulders until he was holding both her hands. She looked at him and lifted her chin with a quick intake of breath and a squaring of her shoulders.

He pressed her fingers gently with his own. "Donna, you don't have to do this."

"No, it's fine, it's just a kiss, right? I mean…" The firelight played across her pale skin, she looked so beautiful the Doctor couldn't think straight.

She worried at her lip, uncertainty in her eyes. "Unless you don't want to."

He lifted his hand to her face and cupped her cheek so tenderly that a hush fell over the spectators. "Of course I want to," he assured her, his tone almost exasperated as he tried to convey how ridiculous she was to think for even a second that he wouldn't want to kiss her. Then, feeling her tremble, he softened it with a smile.

She shrugged a little, gracing him with a nervous smile in return. "Well, okay then," she acknowledged, blushing deeper as his thumbs traced the outline of her cheekbones very gently.

"Sure?" he whispered.

She made a tiny noise in the affirmative, which he could only hear because now everyone around them had fallen silent. Tugging on her hand with gentleness, he slowly brought their bodies closer together, watching her eyes watch his lips. He could feel her shiver a little as he neared and eventually her eyes fluttered closed.

Now he brought both hands to her hair, holding her face very gently and shielding them from the crowd a little as his mouth lowered, his hearts hammering in his chest. He touched his lips to hers and froze for a brief second, waiting to see if she would pull away, but if anything, after a slight hesitation she leaned into him a little, tipping her head back. He gasped against her mouth, his fingers tangling in her hair, drawing her even closer. Her softness took his breath away.

He increased the pressure of his mouth on hers with the utmost care, allowing himself to relax the tiniest bit when she didn't resist. A sigh of appreciation went up from the onlookers; he had almost forgotten they were there.

To his surprise he felt her open to him, just a little, and then yield to him as he tentatively slipped inside. She whimpered, but it wasn't a sound of protest, more like surrender as she slowly, shyly, returned his kiss, moving underneath him. He felt her hands on his chest as she reached out blindly and steadied herself against him.

He wrapped an arm around her waist possessively until their lower bodies were pressed closer and she moaned into his mouth. He plundered her with vigor now, their tongues undulating together.

Her hand worked its way to his cheek and she pulled away after a minute, almost panting, flushed and beautiful, and staring at him in something like wonder.

They didn't have time to dwell on what had happened between them for very long, however. An indignant squawk went up from an elder and that served to release the villagers from stupefaction as all of a sudden a torrent of noise and exclamation broke forth.

Instinctively, the Doctor enveloped Donna close to his chest, wary of any potential threat, and for once she let him hide her in his embrace. He could feel her still trembling and breathing deeply in his arms as he gentled his hands on her back.

Aghast, the elders were stumbling over each other to reprimand them for such a show of lust and depravity. Apparently what he had just done with his bride was more than they had expected.

The Doctor couldn't quite suppress a grin as while the tribal leaders scolded him, all around them couples were breaking off and trying out this new exotic kind of kissing for themselves.

He felt Donna chuckle against him. "Uh oh, think we've started a trend, Doctor."

"That's us! The Doctor and Donna, here to save your planets from a lifetime of boring kisses! They were probably expecting a quick peck on the cheek!"

She shrugged, still nestling close to him, much to his delight. "Bit of PDA scandal won't hurt the time line, will it?"

"Nah. Might even help with the dwindling population problem!"

They were swiftly ushered off to their chambers in the manse, still laughing and holding onto each other tightly.


	6. Chapter 6

The newlyweds were escorted into the main building and all but marched up a catacomb of staircases by the elders, who were still gabbling indignantly and waggling their little fingers at the Doctor – evidently a sign of disapproval but Donna thought for sure she saw a twinkle in at least a few eyes.

Donna was still too flustered by what might have just been the best kiss of her life to keep track of where they were going; she hoped the Doctor's sense of direction had fared better. A sidelong glance up at the man who still kept a firm hold on her hand indicated to Donna that the Time Lord might be just as stunned as she was. His eyes looked almost glazed and a smile played about his lips that was completely oblivious to the haranguing women shuffling them along. He caught her looking at him and his smile blossomed into one of his slightly manic grins, but with a shyness in his eyes she had never seen before.

The journey ended abruptly down one small hallway. Turning around, still in the protective circle of the Doctor's arms, Donna saw two inner bed chambers and a privy room leading off from the vestibule where they stood. A glance in the rooms showed windows looking out over a courtyard completely enclosed by the building. Too far to jump down, she noted at some distant part of her brain, and no handy tree limbs around to aid a quick escape if it became a necessity.

Slightly out of breath from hounding them up endless stairs, Archui nonetheless launched into another supercilious speech about what an honor it was for them to be housed in the manse. From what Donna could gather they shared the washing facilities with only one other household on this floor.

"There's another couple up here?" she asked PaVelte when she and the other women caught up to them.

"Just Amielle and her little one," PaVelte answered her quietly. There was an edge in her voice that Donna couldn't place. Everyone seemed unusually protective of Amielle – where was her husband?

She tuned back in to hear the chief point out which was Donnoble's room and which was the Doctor's room.

"I get my own room?" She breathed a huge sigh of relief, thinking it made sense actually from what she remembered of history—which was pretty much nothing from school but she'd had such a crush on Jonathan Rhys Meyers that she'd adored The Tudors and she remembered all Henry's wives had separate chambers. It wouldn't hurt their ability to escape either as the two rooms were connected by a little hallway, and together with a very simple kitchen, were self contained like a small apartment behind a heavy wooden door.

She hadn't gone two steps in the direction of her room when she felt several of the elder women's hands on her arms.

"Oh no now, not til yer husband says so, be a goodly while now, lass, you go with him."

"But—"

"Do you not know what to expect, girlie? Did yer mother not warn you?"

"Uh, no. So I can go to my room…if my husband allows?" She flashed a significant look at the Doctor who opened his mouth.

"I…uh…I…" His hand curved around the back of his head, his eyebrows high.

It was Archui who broke the tension. "Alnchui, would you and the elder women taken Donnoble into her husband's room? It seems her own family have been remiss in preparing her as a bride should be."

At his words the Doctor reached out and snagged Donna's sleeve. She slid her hand into his, having no desire to be parted from him. The eldest of the women tsked at her, but with more kindness than impatience.

"We can't be having such a talk in the presence of menfolk, m'dear."

She tugged Donna's arm, pulling her away from the Doctor. Donna looked up at him, seeing the worry in his eyes. He let her go only reluctantly, taking a few steps after then; he seemed helpless not to. But then one of the burly farmers stepped in front of him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder and effectively blocking his way.

"Come now, son, just give them a moment, Mother ElPaiLine is not going to take her away from you, just your woman doesn't seem to know what to expect is all. Come now, I'll show you the view from the hall windows."

"You've been given good rooms, good rooms for a visitor," another man chimed in. Like most of Archui's entourage, their eyes were unfocused with alcohol.

"With respect, Elder, I'm not letting my wife out of my sight."

That was the last thing Donna heard before she was ushered into a large bedroom with a beautiful ornate wooden framed bed dominating the room. The door was almost closed by an elder when a IslaCui's foot stopped it closing, swinging it open again with a shove and an apologetic smile.

"The Doctor requests to be able to see his wife, the men will keep him out of earshot though" she explained apologetically. She and Mother ElPaiLine shared a shrug and muttered something about newlyweds with an indulgent smile.

IslaCui kept the door ajar just enough for the Doctor to be able to see them down the hallway and Donna found herself guided to sit on the bed while two women set to work removing the flowers from her hair. Others went around the room lighting candles and setting up a water pitcher. As the elders gathered around her she could feel an impending 'Talk' coming on and squirmed uncomfortably. Before they could speak she started with a question of her own, hoping to derail their no doubt well meaning but very much not needed advice for a bride on her wedding night.

"So some of you are elders…"

"We six are," Mother ElPaiLine responded, indicating Alnchui and herself along with four other older women now forming a semi circle around the bed. A few of the younger women hung back.

"But you are called Mother ElPaiLine?"

She smiled proudly but deferred to her neighbor to answer. "Donnoble, I am Elder ChiNande, I have attained my status as an elder due to my advanced years, Mother ElPaiLine has earned her title by being an elder who has given birth to a daughter who herself has a daughter. That is prestige indeed for the Tih."

Mother ElPaiLine smiled, slightly embarrassed now, making Donna like her a whole lot more. But then she lifted her head and looked Donna straight in the eye. "You must let him sire on you, Donnoble…a good many nights before you can expect of him that he'll let you go to your own chambers for your sleep."

_Oh_ Donna dropped her face in her hands as crippling embarrassment swept through her. It was one thing to smile politely while they offered advice as she had been trying to psych herself up to do, but now she had all kinds of images in her mind of her and the Doctor…images she had worked hard NEVER to entertain (outside the privacy of her own bedroom anyway) _thankyouverymuch_ because he was the _Doctor_ and she was his friend and he was hers and just…

"But we know the first nights with a husband can be frightening," Elder ChiNande broke in.

Donna made a small helpless noise behind her hands.

"And that's why we are here to help."

Donna opened her mouth and then closed it again. There seemed no safe way to tell these women she was no blushing bride so she bit her tongue. Besides, she _was_ blushing now, furiously in fact. Not because she was stranger to a man's bed—but because she had never shared the Doctor's bed. They weren't like that and even to think of speaking of such things was such a strict taboo in her mind and to lift it…well…would be disastrous. Because the truth was, well, sometimes he looked at her kinda funny and it made her stomach feel squirmy in not exactly a bad way, quite a good way really and just NO.

"And our husbands will give the Doctor good counsel, he will know well not to expect too much of you at first, do not fear, Donnoble."

She glanced at the women, they were looking at each other in consternation. Oh dear. They thought she was having some sort of freak out. She swallowed hard, trying to compose herself and forced herself to speak, trying her best to sound composed. "Really? They are giving him a little pep talk right now?" Donna peered out through the hallway and saw the Doctor similarly surrounded. He met her eyes and gave her a little embarrassed wave.

_Yep _definitely the same pep talk, Donna thought, wishing she could be a fly on the wall for that one. She'd ask the Doctor about it later of course but she doubted he'd tell her anything.

He raised an eyebrow and mouthed a question she guessed was an inquiry into her well-being. She nodded, gesturing helplessly to the women and titling her head with a smile before looking away, willing her flaming cheeks to cool down.

Somehow that little exchange normalized things – it was just the Doctor after all.

"Do you want us to tell you what to expect tonight?" Mother ElPaiLine asked softly and Donna shook her head firmly. She was only just regaining her composure. That anyone would think the Doctor would…and with her…it put such images into her head that were all the more difficult to process because they were anything but unwelcome. But _NO_ this conversation was scandalizing her more than anything else this strange day (well, except maybe actually kissing him), but NO she was not allowed to think of him like _that. _That way lay danger, and being dropped off back in Chiswick faster than you could say unrequited.

She looked at her hands where they fiddled nervously in her lap with the soft linen dress she wore. She squeezed her eyes closed against the excruciatingly embarrassing advice she was now receiving from all the women, not just Mother ElPaiLine. Exhortations to relax, to not struggle, to hide her cries in her pillow because some over eager husbands could only be further encouraged by any sounds she made…and some soft-hearted ones could be discouraged entirely.

"He's not….he wouldn't…it's not like that!" she countered, biting back the words that lay most heavily on her heart, that the Doctor didn't think of her that way and would never ever take her as a wife in the way these women meant.

And why did that fill her with such an inexpressible sadness all of a sudden? She had her best mate and the whole of time and space at their fingertips. How could she ever ask for anything more? She'd been to visit Veena and the twins and her friend's adventure, amazing and exhausting as it was, just didn't compare. So why did she feel so weighed down by a sudden sadness?

She pressed her hands over her ears and in the ensuing silence she heard the echo of his quiet modification to his wedding vows that afternoon. "…_If she would have me."_ The intensity in his voice, the look in his eyes….if Donna didn't know any better…and then that kiss.

No nonono, _no_. This was crazy, she was letting the whole wedding thing go to her head. She reached up and pulled the last twist of flowers from her hair and opened her eyes. A collection of wary women were staring at her.

"We didn't mean to upset you, Donnoble," PaVelte offered very gently, in the tone one might use to soothe a frightened child.

Donna cleared her throat. "I know." She looked at PaVelte and mustered up a smile. "I know you all mean well, you are truly good friends, but the Doctor…he isn't…anyway, he said we have a year to y'know, consummate."

There was a quiet collective gasp.

"That's true," Mother ElPaiLine ventured finally, "you could make him wait. But with so few girl babies being sent to us by the spirits it is seldom that a Tih bride would withhold from her husband his bedrights any more. Unless it was at her fathers' request as she was not yet of age."

Donna closed her eyes, hoping that wasn't a prelude to them asking her if she was in her sixties or seventies, because she didn't know if she could stomach such a question. Did that make these older women, who appeared to be her mother's age over a hundred? She smiled to herself to think how Sylvia would take to living somewhere where she was older than granddad.

"So, you won't yield to him?" PaVelte asked incredulously.

"I'm shattered," Donna hedged. "And he won't…he won't exactly mind. Why are we even talking about this?"

"She just means tonight, and he may yet change her mind." Mother ElPaiLine and the other elders didn't look entirely satisfied with that but they gathered themselves to leave with only a few tuts and sighs.

Donna watched them file out of the room thoughtfully. PaVelte still lingered, looking at her with amazement in her eyes.

"PaVelte?"

"Yes, Donnoble? Is there anything I can bring you? Some more washcloths? There is a good supply in the washroom down the hall, is there anything I could do that would help you to…"

"Can you tell me something?" Donna knew she had been let off lightly and should just leave well enough alone, but it concerned her to think even the young brides the equivalent of 18 years old would be pressured into 'yielding' by the very same powerful women in the village as had just cast her all sorts of aghast and censuring glances as they left the room.

"Yes, of course, dear."

"Would a man of the Tih, who takes a wife, would he force her to sleep with him—I mean, be taken by him, even if she was…"

"Scared?"

"Reluctant. For any reason."

"No. No, he wouldn't." PaVelte sat down on the bed beside her with a smile now. "Of course some might grumble good-naturedly, tease her a little, but no, he would wait until she would accept him. Our men are…well, they place a high value on bringing much pleasure to their wives in the bedroom. Especially nowadays when a wife is so hard to come by. We have hundreds of young bachelors, you know, longing for a wife."

"Hundreds?!"

"You don't see them here in the village very often, they have to be cast out after a certain age, they make camp in the forests. They were causing too much trouble around the village."

"What happens to them?" Donna was horrified.

"They hunt, they farm, they prove their prowess and as they mature the chances are good they may become a third husband to a woman who has yet to bear a girl. If she will accept one, of course. Three of my sons are very accomplished hunters and farmers, I have hope for them, and my eldest is almost of age!"

"Your sons…." Donna gulped. "They are exiled?"

"No, it's not that harsh, it is just our way. Few are forced out these days. And they always have hope of a woman accepting another husband…when she feels ready." She eyed Donna meaningfully.

Donna pretended not to notice. "IslaCui didn't seem to have much of a choice," she rejoined.

"Our chief, her brother in law, would like her to take a second, to see if she could bear a child, it is true. But until new seed came," she blushed and caught herself, "until you and the Doctor were sent to us, Chief Archui mostly let her and Beccui alone—him being his kin brother 'n all."

"What's a kin brother?" Donna asked carefully, wanting to broach other subjects PaVelte had raised but still being uncertain about even addressing them.

"A kin brother means they share a mother and several fathers. If children are born to a woman while she still has only one husband they are true brothers, but after she has taken more than one man to her bed, any child after that is still a brother, but…"

"So a half-brother?"

PaVelte grimaced. "We still see our siblings as fully our siblings, it's the kin line that matters, that's what they spirits said."

"After the girls stopped being born?"

PaVelte nodded patiently. Donna watched her thoughtfully. "How do you know what the spirits say?"

"They are behind the veil. Only our chief can commune with them." PaVelte smiled at her and tried to stifle a yawn, which let Donna know that at least the woman wasn't alerted by her questioning. Indeed she kept talking, patting Donna's arm. "Chief Archui says he thinks there will be many prophetic words from them in the days to come, about you and your new husband." There was a light in her eyes now.

"Ah huh," Donna murmured. "You said you believe we were sent to you?"

"By the twelve spirits." PaVelte smiled widely, not a trace of doubt in her face. "We have been praying and fasting and here you are!"

"Ah," said Donna, more faintly now.

"Did I make you not so scared?" PaVelte ventured hopefully after a pause. "About your first night with your husband?" she prompted when Donna looked confused.

"Scared? Oh you mean, when I asked if a Tih husband…" She had almost forgotten where their conversation had begun.

PaVelte nodded with a smile. "You see, Donnoble, no man would rush or frighten his bride, they may talk big round the fire pit with ale in their bellies, but the truth is our husbands love us very much and keep a tight reign on us to show that love."

Donna's eyebrows rose. She didn't have a chance to ask PaVelte to clarify what she meant by a 'tight reign' because they suddenly heard footsteps approaching. PaVelte hurriedly stood up and Donna joined her, hearing a single man's steps on the creaking wood floor as he came down the short hallway to their rooms.

PaVelte reached for her hand. "S'alright, Donnoble, no other man can cross the threshold into your chambers without your husband's permission and presence." She patted Donna's hand and smiled at her kindly before taking her leave. She passed the Doctor, looking back when she reached the group in the vestibule to give Donna one last encouraging smile.

Donna swallowed and smoothed her dress down, feeling self-conscious as the Doctor met her eyes. She could see his concern for her and she nodded at him slightly to indicate that she was fine, then grasped her hands together to stop them trembling.

Through their doorway she could see the crowd in the vestibule parting to let PaVelte through as the Chief's droning voice bestowed a last few blessings upon them. The men cheered with slurred voices. The Doctor held Donna's eyes the whole time until the door swung closed in the hallway.


	7. Chapter 7

Alone together, the muffled songs and catcalls were the only sounds as the retreating villagers clattered down the stairs and out of earshot. Then there was quiet as the Doctor came fully into the bedroom and closed that door behind him too. The look in his eyes was unfathomable, and he seemed to Donna to be breathing a little heavier than usual.

Finding she could no longer look at him, Donna turned around and busied herself fussing with the bed. There were many heavy blankets, she noted, it must get very cold here in winter. She shivered suddenly and hugged herself, pulling the Doctor's jacket tighter around her shoulders.

"Donna?" His voice was tentative. Her throat went dry and she couldn't find any words. "Are you all right?" he tried again. For a moment she heard the whine of the sonic screwdriver. Was he nervous too and fiddling with his screwdriver so he didn't have to look at her either?

"Do you want some water?" he asked her after a few moments.

She glanced back at him, he was holding himself very still. He indicated with a slight tilt of his head a corner table with a pitcher of water that she hadn't noticed before.

She shook her head in response and plumped the pillows unnecessarily, causing a few feathers to float in the air. "So, when do we go get those crystals then? Think it is safe yet?"

"Archui has men posted outside—at the bottom of the staircase. Says it's a wedding night tradition." He looked at her in trepidation but he didn't seem at all upset that their path to the crystals was blocked for now.

"So we are stuck here? In this room?"

"It's just tonight." He peered at her closely, his eyes unreadable. "I don't think it would be safe for you to go alone to the other bedroom. If you stay here I will keep watch. Might be for the best, you look exhausted."

She _was_ exhausted, so much so even these awkward sleeping arrangements were enticing. A flash of guilt brought her up short; they were here to help the TARDIS, and maybe some locals, and she really shouldn't be thinking about how good it could feel to cuddle up in bed with her best mate.

She raised her chin and kept her tone flippant, teasing. "Is that how you sweet talk all your brides into your bed? Telling me I look done in?"

His eyes went very wide and he spluttered, "Donna! You know I would do no such thing! And I didn't mean— I…I'm not trying to talk you into bed with me. Y-you know I wouldn't!"

Donna's nerves overcame her poise and she could no longer hold back an impish smile. "Yeah, not one for charm, that's my SpaceSpouse," she joked, fidgeting with the blankets again. Safely grounding herself in teasing him was a balm to her, and stopped her before she could process that maybe _she_ was suggesting she sleep with him and apparently having no qualms about doing so. Had she drunk too much wine?

Donna shook her head to clear it. She shouldn't get ahead of herself; he might not even consider doing such a thing. Besides, he was still standing bolt upright with his back to the door—as far away from her as he could get.

"You're right though, I'm knackered," she babbled on, smoothing out what were now imaginary wrinkles in the inviting bed sheets. "Maybe I'll just close my eyes a bit then we can work out a plan. Guards will be asleep soon from all that booze anyway."

He tilted his head as he studied her. "You won't get a full eight hours you know, not with how short the diurnal period is here."

"My intelligence gathering is better than yours. The women tell me it's customary for a bride and groom to be left alone the first day or so. They'll bring us food in the morning but leave it outside. We could sleep all day if we liked."

"Oh." He processed that for a few moments. Donna wondered if he had picked up on her saying '_we_ could sleep' instead of 'I'. Again she shook her head at herself; she shouldn't be saying such things, she was playing with fire. She ran her tongue over her lips where they still tingled with the memory of his kiss and closed her eyes for a moment. She would remember how it felt to be possessed by him and possess him in return, he had given her a memory she would cherish for the rest of her life.

When she opened her eyes again he was looking at her with worry in his beautiful eyes. "Donna?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry," she offered quickly, feeling guilty for where her thoughts had been going. "I know you are anxious to get home to the TARDIS."

"No, I…" He moved finally, taking a few steps in her direction and watching her eyes. "I think it might be a good idea to stay here a little bit, see if we can't get a handle on the nature of the population crisis. That is, if you think you'd be okay with…" he made a rolling gesture with his hand, "…all this."

She bit her lip, surprised. "Playing house?" _With me?_ she didn't add.

He looked so unsure of himself. Donna breathed out slowly, willing herself to relax. This whole situation was crazy: _kissing_ the Doctor and now sharing his bedroom? He was probably even more terrified than she was. She closed the distance between them and reached a tired hand to his arm, softening her quip about 'playing house' with a gentle touch.

"With me?" He sounded insecure even as he stepped closer. Donna blinked. Those were her words, albeit unspoken. Could he share the same fear that she did? That her feelings were destined to be forever unrequited? The tremor in his hands matched her own shiver as he reached for her then stopped.

His obvious insecurity moved her and Donna's strong sense of compassion kicked in before she could stop herself. She tightened her hold on his arm. "Of course it's okay, you prawn, it's more than okay; you're the only one I would want to do this with anyway."

The room was suddenly very quiet. The only movement in the room was the candlelight flickering in his eyes as he stared at her. His eyes were so dark and full of…hope? She didn't dare believe it. Donna backed up until her legs came in contact with the bed but her hand was still on his arm and so he followed her.

"I mean…" She swallowed nervously. "It's not like I'd want to be here with anyone else." _Shut up, shut up, shut up! _She was shivering harder now, and mentally kicking herself as she felt heat rise in her cheeks. They stared at each other.

All of a sudden he was leaning in close; Donna forgot to breathe. He moved his hand over hers as he reached behind her and took the opportunity to peel back the heavy bedspread and blankets, whispering, "me either."

She sat down abruptly on the now turned down bed. Before she could think again he dropped to his knees in front of her and began unlacing her converse.

She just watched him, stunned into silence as he gently removed her footwear. She was glad now that PaVelte had allowed her time to clean up after the ceremony, while the Doctor had been engaged in rituals. Then he was maneuvering her with only the slightest of touches in between the covers. Donna laughed, more of a nervous reflex than anything else, surprising both of them.

"What?" he asked her, concern in his voice.

"I just realized, you _did_ just get your 'bride' into your bed! Very smooth, mister."

"I…" He looked helplessly flustered again (and all kinds of adorable and not remotely threatening) and Donna's defenses crumbled even further. He scrubbed his hand a few times across his face.

Biting the inside of her cheek, she shuffled over in the bed. "C'mere," she said much more gently now.

He sat down slowly at her side and after a moment's hesitation, brushed her hair away from her eyes reverently, his hand trembling.

"Are you gonna sit there all night, you plum?"

"Not sleepy," he breathed, staring at her hair in the candlelight.

"Liar." She touched his face and his eyes darkened at the brush of her fingertips against his cheek. Donna caught herself and quickly withdrew her hand. "I can see how tired you are," she added more gently, trying her hardest to keep her voice matter of fact.

Some kind of internal conflict flickered across his expression and for a moment he appeared about to acquiesce but then his lips pursed and his eyes didn't quite meet hers. "I didn't get you into bed so I could force myself in with you."

Donna's mind stuttered at his word choice and she wrapped her arms around herself as the cold seeped in. But despite her internal turmoil, her usual brash bravado hurtled along at full speed. "I know that, dumbo. Don't you think by now I can tell you aren't a creep like that?"

He blew out a breath and met her eyes finally, a sheepish smile gracing his lips. He kicked off his shoes and socks and then stopped again. Hoping to encourage him to keep going, Donna slipped off the Doctor's jacket from her own shoulders. She shrugged out of it and the shawl, folding them on the night stand before she could think better of any kind of undressing, given their position.

The Doctor's eyes were very dark as they followed her movements. He undid a few of the buttons on his shirt and slid a little closer to her, but remained on top of the covers.

Rolling her eyes at him, still hiding all her insecurities behind bluster, Donna chided him with "you'll freeze your toes off" and pulled back the blankets until he slipped underneath. The bed wasn't huge, there were barely two inches between them, a fact that Donna found excited her and she wondered again if that was due to all the wine she had drank. She didn't feel drunk though, at least not on the wine. It was him; she was feeling this way because it was the Doctor.

Without his jacket and her shawl the cold was biting at her even more and Donna decided she'd had enough of thinking and second guessing everything. She snuggled down underneath the covers.

The Doctor watched her keenly, but remained sitting, fiddling with the bedspread that rested across his hips now. "Sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Course."

"Are you cold?"

_I wouldn't be if you'd snuggle with me like I've fantasized about for ages now,_ she thought but didn't dare say. "'Mfine."

"Shall I blow out the candles?"

"Oh." She hugged herself feeling suddenly even more insecure. "Are we…I mean, what if…"

"We're safe. The door has a bolt, I sonicked it extra tight when you were making the bed."

She sighed in relief. His eyes watched her closely and he reached out to bring even more blankets around her, resting his hand on her shoulder briefly before withdrawing it again. His eyes seemed to be pleading with her to trust him.

"No one will bother you, I promise." There was that husky whisper again and Donna forgot all about feeling cold.

"Well, can we leave just one candle lit?"

He nodded and quickly blew out most of the candles around their bed. He leaned over her to reach the two on her side of the bed and Donna's lips quirked. He was so close, the memory of their kiss came flooding back, bringing warmth throughout her body.

"Sorry," he murmured, after extinguishing one of the small flames and retreating to his side of the bed.

"Don't be." Her voice was higher pitched than Donna had intended and her fingers tightened on the blankets as if she could hide her body's reaction to him.

He was watching her studiously when she dared to glance up at him again.

"Do you want to…uh…talk?"

Donna's stomach plummeted into the mattress. "What about?"

His eyes moved to her lips for a moment, it was subtle but she caught it even in the dim light. "Oh."

"We don't have to," he countered, fidgeting.

"You should just take your shirt off you know, or you'll never get the wrinkles out."

Obediently his hands resumed undoing his buttons, but his eyes, a mixture of confusion and something else, never left hers.

She chewed on her lip again as he stripped off his shirt, leaving him in only a thin cotton undershirt. It clung to his body as he moved to fold his shirt on his own nightstand and Donna let her eyes travel over his surprisingly muscled torso.

He returned to a sitting position and just gazed down at her, looking more vulnerable than Donna could ever remember him being. "If we are gonna talk, Doctor, you'd better just lie down, I'm getting a crick in my neck trying to look up at you."

He grinned and squirmed with sudden enthusiasm down in the bed until he was lying on his side, his body keeping a slight but respectful distance from hers. She reached out and mirrored his actions bringing the blankets more around him, until they were ensconced in a cave of bedclothes. The chill was rapidly leaving her bones and being replaced by a tingling warmth at the Doctor's closeness.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked softly.

"The eiderdown," she said, suddenly afraid to address what he so obviously longed to talk about. This whole night there had been a magic between them and Donna was afraid to break the spell by talking about it. Talking could go so horribly wrong.

"It's just so heavy—no fluffy Marks and Sparks duvets for this lot, eh?"

"Is it _too_ heavy, Donna? Do you feel trapped?" His deep voice gave her shivers.

"No—I like it, actually. When I stayed over at my gran and granddads the blankets felt like this almost. And the bed was high off the ground like this one, but I suppose that's cause I was just a kid." She looked at him and chewed the inside of her cheek nervously, aware that she was doing exactly what she had once accused him of doing: talking all the time but never really saying anything. He didn't seem to mind though.

"And that old bed, it would always dip in the middle—good thing this one doesn't, or I'd be rolling into you all night!" She was babbling now but at her last words a look of pure desire crossed his face and silenced her. His eyes fixed on her, bright eyes piercing her very soul.

Donna tried not to get lost in those eyes, or how the shadows created by the solitary candle played beautifully across his handsome face. _Oh hell_—since when had she got this far gone? This morning this man was her best friend; her coworker after a fashion—she'd never give him the title of 'boss'. And if she harbored any silly romantic notions when alone in her room on the TARDIS, well, there was no harm. She was a big girl and she knew how to keep such fantasies separate from when she was actually with him. It didn't even mean anything, he was just the only bloke in her life, it was natural and she'd got along quite nicely for quite a while now keeping any such ridiculous feelings that she may or may not have under wraps thank you very much.

_But that b__**kiss**__._/b

And a thousand other things that had happened between them in just one day: his fierce proprietary behavior around other men, the possessive fussing over her, the protective touches, his playful but gentle hands, his dancing eyes…oh his eyes…the way he had looked at her in her simple wedding dress. _Oh holy hell. _

"So," he began, one hand sneaking out to tuck a lock of her hair behind her ear as he gave her a lopsided grin that was both cheeky and shy.

"You said we should find out more about the population crisis," she blurted out, her skin still aflame from his touch. She couldn't possibly talk about their kiss, or she'd be snogging the living daylights out of him again and given their current compromising position there was no telling where that could lead them and they were _just mates_. There was no point in torturing herself with hope. She could practically hear her mother's voice in her head telling her no man this gorgeous and talented would want a washed up office temp like her.

Besides, there were women here who needed help, lots of help. And she had gleaned a lot from chatting with them all day long.

The Doctor listened intently as she filled him in. He asked questions and prompted her for details but somehow she felt his hearts weren't in it. His eyes seemed sad and a little wistful although he listened intently. After her third yawn he gently suggested that they could talk more in the morning and she should get some sleep.

"Hmmm, you too," Donna mumbled as she closed her eyes and buried her head into the pillows. She let her breathing even out as she began to process the last twenty minutes or so, still too keyed up to fall right to sleep and too aware of his nearness. She had communicated most of the key points about this society and was pleased at the many times the Doctor had praised her for knowing what questions to ask. Well, he had said her insight, but really, it was just the art of gossip, honed from years of walking blind into unfamiliar workplaces and sizing everyone up and the culture of the office before it was time to make the coffee.

Mostly, she was relieved they had avoided talking about what had happened between them. Or hadn't happened, was she just imagining the look of astonished joy in his eyes after their kiss? Or the tenderness of how he had held her during the wedding ceremony? As she drifted off she replayed every touch of his hand on her body and the feel of his lips on hers. She sighed happily when he tucked her in tighter and laid his hand on her arm for a moment, presuming her to be asleep. But it was his next two words that caused goosebumps all over her body.

"Goodnight wife," he whispered. Leaning over her with infinite care he blew out the last candle.


End file.
